RENT SPIKE FEAR
AFFORDABLE HOUSES TO GO
HUNDREDS of vulnerable tenants across Tasmania could be exposed to rent spikes of up to 20 per cent as the National Rental Affordability Scheme comes to an end.
As the housing affordability crisis continues, an analysis by the Mercury has revealed the suburbs that will lose the most affordable rentals over the next seven years as the time-limited scheme winds up.
Almost 1500 homes are on the list with concerns private landlords could sell their NRAS properties or raise rents to market rates, and capitalise on current booming prices.
HUNDREDS of vulnerable tenants across Tasmania could be exposed to rent spikes of up to 20 per cent as the National Rental Affordability Scheme comes to an end.
As the housing affordability crisis continues, an analysis by The Mercury reveals the suburbs that will lose the most affordable rentals over the next seven years as the time-limited rental scheme winds up.
Greater Hobart will have 667 homes come off the scheme - including 450 in central Hobart.
Launceston will lose 432 affordable rentals subsidised by the scheme, including 195 in Newnham and 120 in Invermay, according to Department of Social Services figures.
Burnie and surrounds will have 110 rentals come off the scheme, while Devonport will have more than 50.
Almost 1500 homes with rents set at least 20 per cent below market price under the scheme will progressively exit the program until June 2026 as their 10-year incentives end.
That includes 128 rentals this year.
The biggest concerns are for 313 properties owned by mum and dad investors, rather than 1179 properties owned by endorsed charities.
Community Housing Limited, one of the not-for profits that owns some of the homes, has confirmed it will continue to rent them at affordable rates.
But private landlords could sell their properties, which have been on the scheme, or raise rents to market rates, and capitalise on current booming prices.
A TasCOSS spokeswoman said rents could increase by up to 20 per cent. This means someone currently paying $336 a week in a scheme property could face an increase to almost $405.
Shelter Tasmania chief executive Pattie Chugg said it would only compound the problem in Tasmania, where there was already a lack of affordable rentals.
“When the NRAS scheme ends, tenants will face a highly competitive and challenging private rental market in Tasmania, where rents have surged in recent years,” she said.
“To achieve or maintain housing stability in this environment, many current tenants will need additional assistance and support.”
Shelter Tas has called for a State Government review of the expiring rental scheme, and its impacts on tenants.
Tasmanian Labor Senator Anne Urquhart said families using the scheme could have to find a new place to live.
“I simply don’t know anyone who could afford to pay a 20 per cent increase in their rental costs in one year,” Senator Urquhart said.
She also raised concerns about the impacts in the NorthWest, where incomes were generally lower and unemployment was significantly higher.
Crossbench Senator Jacqui Lambie said the state and federal governments must invest more in social housing, adding: “Every Tasmanian deserves to have a roof over their head.”
The federal government under then-Prime Minister Tony Abbott opted to end the scheme in the 2014 budget.
Social Services Minister Anne Ruston said the “poorly designed scheme”, begun by Labor Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, had been rorted at the expense of mum and dad investors and the community housing sector.
“Labor’s mess cost Australian taxpayers $3.5 billion to deliver just 35,000 properties, of which about 5000 are specialist student accommodation that do nothing to offer low-income families affordable housing,” she said.
Minister Ruston said the Hobart City Deal would deliver more than 100 social or affordable homes, while the decision to waive Tasmania’s $157.6 million housing debt would save the State Government up to $15 million annually, which would allow it to provide about 80 more homes for people on the social housing waiting list each year.