Rents sting seniors
Pensioners priced out of market
PENSIONERS are the worst hit by the Gold Coast rental crisis, as rents surge across the city.
New figures in the national Rental Affordability Index revealed Surfers Paradise, Southport and Robina lead “extremely unaffordable” suburbs for single pensioners receiving $25,000 in benefits a year.
Anne Parker spent 35 years on the Coast, working in IT for the city council and police prosecution.
But the mother-of-three is now living with her aunty in an Eagleby retirement village, after she fell sick and was forced to retire.
“Life has changed from being independent to begging,” Ms Parker, 52, said.
“I’ve been struggling ever since, I’ve been homeless.”
Ms Parker is now looking to rent in a senior sharehouse with many other women in her position.
“It’s just not feasible, everyone is getting squeezed out of the market,” Ms Parker said. “Prices have gone up astronomically.” But it’s not just seniors doing it tough.
Harcourts Coastal business development manager Brent Martens said all rentals in a 10km radius of Surfers Paradise have skyrocketed.
“I had two owners who have recently sold and are looking to rent for a year or two, and they are shocked at how much rent has increased in even just a couple of years,” he said.
CoreLogic shows the median house rental price on the Gold Coast has increased to $530 in 12 months to August, 2017, an increase of almost four per cent.
Units are up to $410, an increase of 3.79 per cent.
National Shelter executive officer Adrian Pisarski said the report showed “most of the Gold Coast is moderately unaffordable” to an average annual household income of $80,000.
“When you drop the income down to $60,000 a year, the whole of the Gold Coast is unaffordable to severely unaffordable to renters,” Mr Pisarski said.
Real Estate Institute of Queensland CEO Antonia Mercorella said the Gold Coast vacancy rate is 1.9 per cent in the September quarter and the market remains in tight range with demand for rental accommodation outstripping supply.
“However, we do expect a small reprieve once the Comm Games have passed. The accommodation built for the Games will be converted to student accommodation and this will go some way to easing those tight conditions in this market, albeit briefly,” she said.