Cohesive approach needed to solve crisis

IT’S blatantly obvious families are doing it tough across the Far North — and renters are in the thick of it. Today’s news that landlords are cashing in on the rental crisis, jacking up rent and failing to maintain properties in our region, would not come as a surprise to most.

Few could say they have not been impacted by the rental crisis crippling the state.

According to the latest Proptrack data, a house in Holloways Beach has increased $40 in one year to $520 while in Trinity Beach there’s a year-on-year increase of 17 per cent.

But it’s the fact that landlords are now choosing to ignore maintenance, or in the case of the Vucetics, asking them to foot the bill that is the shocking reality of how bad the situation has come.

Housing Minister Leeanne Enoch announced plans to build 23 new social units at Earlville earlier this week.

Chief executive officer Liz Brown welcomed the investment amid a chronic housing shortage but conceded the Earlville project was “small in the context of what is required”.

She believes it is essential that we continue to maintain the momentum to build housing supply.

While the controversial rental cap has been labelled the wrong move by many economists who fear renters could be worse off if landlords decide to evict them just to push up the prices, it’s also clear something must be done to alleviate the pressure.

Shelter Housing Action Cairns executive officer Sally Watson said an “overarching structural and co-ordinated approach” was needed to address the crisis. It is clear this state government is yet to achieve what our communities are desperately craving.