Housing victims call for fairer rent prices
VICTIMS of Hobart’s housing crisis have formed a new alliance to protest against the skyrocketing cost of rent which has rendered many of them homeless.
The Housing Alliance lutruwita/Tasmania is a collective of renters, homeowners, and rough sleepers who have been affected by the ballooning cost of housing.
Alliance member Matty Paws lost his job during lockdown and spent nearly two months sleeping in his car, huddling up in the back for warmth.
It was the second time he’d experienced homelessness, the first time being in 2018 when he moved to Tasmania and found just how steep the cost of rent was.
Mr Paws said Hobart desperately needed to regulate property speculators and Airbnb landlords in order to push down rents.
“The Housing Alliance wants to fight the housing crisis and build a fairer society where housing is a human right, rather than a for-profit commodity,” Mr Paws said.
“Housing is something that affects everybody: homeowners, renters, and the
homeless as well. There’s no one that hasn’t been affected by this crisis.”
Mr Paws said he knew other rough sleepers who had given up on finding social housing, which had a waiting list of more than 4000 people.
One of the lucky ones is Frankie Niamh, who managed to secure a social housing spot in West Hobart that he would otherwise never be able to afford.
Before he secured a roof over his head, he’d spent several months living in shelters while waiting in the social housing queue at the age of 17.
However Mr Niamh said he is one of the lucky ones, since he eventually managed to get a social housing spot in West Hobart that he would otherwise never be able to afford.
“I’ve bounced between a couple of the different shelters, and while they’re amazing services … we shouldn’t have to need them,” Mr Niamh said.
“I was quite lucky that I didn’t have to sleep on the streets, but there’s a lot of people who do need to do that.”
Alliance member Richard Cuskelly has never experienced homelessness, but said his heart went out to all those who had.
Mr Cuskelly works in town planning, and advocates an Amsterdam-style system, where more social housing is mixed into ordinary neighbourhoods.
“Even private developments have to provide 5-10 per cent for low income housing or a social housing provider, and I’d love to see that in Tasmania,” he said.
“The Liberal government refuse it point-blank, but I think they have to consider it if they’re genuine about solving the housing crisis.”