Elsie Lange
The median cost of renting in regional Victoria has risen to about $390 a week – that’s the case in Sunbury – and the Council to Homeless Persons (CHP) is urging the new Labor government to act on its housing election promises.
Five years ago, in 2017, it cost $330 a week to rent a three bedroom house in Sunbury, and 10 years ago, in 2012, it was just $300, according to the Victoria’s March quarter 2022 Rental Report.
In the March quarter, the Melbourne Rent Index grew by 2.6 per cent, which is the largest quarterly increase since June 2008. In regional Victoria, rents are up 10 per cent year on year, and 4 per cent in Melbourne, according to the report.
CHP chief executive Jenny Smith said the data shows the rental crisis in regional Victoria is deepening.
“Even before these most recent increases, more than a third of renters in regional Victoria feel the pinch every week when they pay rent,” Ms Smith said.
“People will make every other household budget cut before they miss rent – that means skipping meals, shivering through winter with the heating off, or forgoing study and social opportunities.
“People will stay on in unsafe homes rather than leaving, if they can’t see a way to afford rent for their families on their own.”
CHP is urging the government to get started on building its promised 20,000 new social houses amid the crisis.
“We know that the root cause of rental stress and housing unaffordability is the current undersupply of social housing. The market can’t fix that, so we need government to step in and provide more homes,” Ms Smith said.
Recently sworn-in Housing and Homelessness Minister Julie Collins said she would be working hard “from day one” to address the challenges people are facing when it comes to housing.
“Safe and affordable housing is central to the security and dignity of all Australians. It is unacceptable that so many Australians don’t have a place to call home,” Ms Collins said.
