Rent stress takes a toll on student
MOVING out of home is supposed to be a thrilling rite of passage for most young people but 21-year-old Trenton Hoare could sense it wasn’t going to be easy for him.
Originally from Devonport, Mr Hoare moved to Hobart at the beginning of 2021 to study a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Tasmania.
He moved into uni accommodation in the city and began working a casual job on the Eastern Shore before deciding that juggling work and study was too difficult.
“I just simply couldn’t keep up with the load of fulltime uni and trying to work,” he said.
“I had to travel for work. … so that took its toll, as well, when sometimes you can’t afford to put petrol in your car.”
The second-year student has shared his story following the release of Anglicare Tasmania’s 2022 Rental Affordability Snapshot, which found Tasmanians on low incomes had next to no hope of securing a private rental.
Reviewing all the properties listed for rent across the state on a weekend in March, the snapshot showed that just one of the 714 properties was affordable for a person receiving Youth Allowance.
Mr Hoare, who is undertaking a sociology and politics double major, receives about $680 in Youth Allowance from Centrelink every fortnight but $574 of that must go towards his rent, leaving him roughly $100 for groceries, bills, and other expenses.
“Thank goodness it is only myself,” he said.
“I don’t know how families do it in the same situation, unemployed and trying to pay rent.”
Suffering from anxiety and depression, Mr Hoare said his impoverished lifestyle wore him down. “It really impacts on your mental health and for someone with mental health conditions, it really can take its toll,” he said.
“I have a little bar fridge that’s quite temperamental (and) it either will freeze everything or let everything go bad. So my grocery run would be Homebrand beans and rice. It’d be a rare treat if I see that fresh corn is on sale for … 90c a cob.”
According to CoreLogic’s latest Quarterly Rental Review, the median rent in Hobart is $532 a week, up 8.7 per cent over the previous 12 month period.
Mr Hoare was aware of such grim statistics when he moved out and was under no illusion that renting in Hobart would be easy.
“I knew that it wasn’t going to be a walk in the park,” he said.
“But I guess it was (still) just a real eye-opener.”