Real cost of rising rents
PREDICTIONS that there is little relief ahead for Hobart renters is not good news for an increasing number of people trying to keep a roof over their heads.
Less than a month after data revealed Hobart’s median rents were now $464 a week — $7 more than Melbourne’s median — comes news that rents will continue to soar.
Investment experts Propertyology tip rents will go up by another $100 in the next two years, driven by house price increases and low vacancy rates.
This has a ripple effect on rents across greater Hobart and beyond. The latest figures from realestate.com.au show 15 suburbs with annual rent increases of 10 per cent or more. The worrying sign for many lower-income tenants is that this jump has hit less-trendy suburbs — such as Kings Meadows and Penguin in the state’s North and North-West and West Moonah and Brighton in the South.
Those who can’t afford higher rents are being pushed further and further out, away from services and public transport, making it hard to stay healthy and to hold down jobs.
It has prompted the Brighton Council to change its bylaws so residents can live in caravans on their properties under temporary permits.
Much progress has been made since the Mercury led a push for action in our Give them Shelter
THOSE WHO CAN’T AFFORD HIGHER RENTS ARE BEING PUSHED FURTHER AND FURTHER OUT, AWAY FROM SERVICES
campaign five months ago. We managed to persuade the Federal Government to set aside Tasmania’s historic $157 million public housing debt, freeing up funds for more affordable housing.
The Government and councils are also working to provide emergency housing with the recent approval to install temporary housing in the form of adapted shipping containers in Hobart.
It’s a good start but, as forecasts suggest, little is likely to change unless vacancy rates can ease to the 2-3 per cent range. They now sit around 0.2 per cent.
One of the key factors identified in our recent Future Tasmania series was the need to continue to attract 20 to 40-year-olds back to the state to settle down and bring up families.
It’s already happening as many look to escape the congestion, expense and crime of the bigger cities such as Melbourne and Sydney. But the availability of affordable housing and rental properties is a key part of that strategy.
Even young professionals with good jobs find it difficult to find a place to live in the state’s capital.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison last night announced that his government was bringing forward $3.8 billion in infrastructure spending and in the coming days would outline the state’s share of that.
The pity is that the infrastructure spend is focused on roads and rail — and Tasmania has included Bass Highway upgrades and the Bridgewater Bridge and the Sorell to Hobart corridor in projects it would like to see bumped up the list of priorities.
These are important projects for the state but while new bridges and roads will help keep the economy ticking along, it will do nothing to help solve our housing crisis.
Responsibility for all editorial comment is taken by the Editor, Chris Jones, Level 1, 2 Salamanca Square, Hobart, TAS, 7000