‘Your dollar doesn’t go very far anymore’: Australia's pensioners in danger due to rental crisis
- Replies 15
Retirement can be riddled with daily financial and other strains.
While seniors may be receiving the aged pension, the costs of food, rent, medical services, and other essentials can eat up a large chunk of your monthly budget.
In some areas of the country, the rental crisis has gotten so bad that pensioners are just an increase in rent away from bankruptcy.
Annemarie King, a 69-year-old resident of South Tamworth, New South Wales, recently received written notice from her real estate agent that she would have to pay an extra $45 a week to bring her rent in line with the current market.
This means that from December her rent will increase 20 per cent from $235 per week to $280—nearly half of her fortnightly aged pension!
Since she had nowhere to go, she had no choice but to pay this amount.
‘I sent them an email, and I said I would accept the increase because I had no choice, but that I was doing it under duress,’ King said.
Considering the condition and age of the unit, which she estimated was built in the 1970s, it was far from perfect, according to King. She pointed out that with it not having any insulation, having rattling windows, and her paying a power bill of nearly $200 a month due to her medical condition—the 20 per cent rent increase did not seem fair.
‘Everything seems to centre around people living around cities, with the shortage of accommodation and the cost of accommodation. It's even worse in rural areas,’ King complained.
‘They keep building new houses, but they're for retirees that are coming from the city to the country, you know, that have sold their homes in Sydney, Melbourne, wherever, so they have the money to buy,’ she added.
‘Then there are people buying investment properties where they can lease these places out for $400, $500, $600 a week. They're just not building any affordable housing.’
King relies mostly on charity and aged care services from non-profit providers.
‘I can't afford to cut back on meds,’ King exclaimed.
‘I get Meals on Wheels, because as well as the lung problems, I have bad arthritis, so I can't do a lot of my own cooking anymore.’
‘I use Oxley Community Transport to go out and socialise because I don't have a family here, so I'll probably have to cut back on that, and I'll probably have to cut back on groceries as well,’ she continued.
‘In rural areas, because of the cost of fuel and transport, the cost of groceries here and services in general are high… your dollar doesn't go very far anymore.’
Jacqui Bijnens, Chief Operating Officer of real estate company PRD Tamworth, said that while vacancy rates in the area have increased to just two per cent in the last 12 months, the price for two-bedroom properties surged.
‘The increase in rents is getting higher for people living in three-bedroom, four-bedroom houses, so some of them are looking to downsize,’ Bijnens said.
She added, ‘Some people are thinking, “Instead of having that spare room I'm going to be looking more for a two-bedroom house or unit,” so the demand for those two-bedroom properties has increased… pushing up that price.’
‘The issue here is really a matter of supply and social affordable housing, and that is one Tamworth Regional Council have been looking into.
‘As well as how we can get even more investors back into the property market, and how we can get more properties built in Tamworth that will cater to the needs because the supply is not there for the people who need those two-bedroom properties.’
In New South Wales, landlords can increase rent once every 12 months for periodic leases, and they must give the tenants 60 days written notice regarding such increase. If the landlord increases rent ‘excessively,’ tenants may complain to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal within 30 days.
National Seniors Chief Operating Officer Chris Grice believes the rental crisis severely affects pensioners in regional and rural areas who don’t have homeownership.
He said, ‘When the government designed the Aged Pension many years ago, it was designed with the assumption that older people would own their own home.’
‘And now we sort of know from the Retirement Income Review, and even research we've done ourselves, that the number of older renters that are now in the marketplace, there's just so many more of them now,’ he added.
‘Particularly for older women, maybe they don't have large superannuation balances, or assets behind them, maybe as part of a separation they've had to sell the family home so they've moved into this rental space—and now with the cost of living crisis—they just don't have the cash.’
Grice emphasised that the solution to the crisis was more housing stock, which wouldn’t help those already going through tough times.
‘The pension should at least be consistent with what's happening with real inflation, a realistic and practical review of what the real cost of living is and to make sure the pension is in line with that,’ he said.
‘We also want indexation of the Commonwealth rent assistance to keep pace with these rental increases that are coming through. Because by the time they pay rent, it doesn't leave them with a lot to pay for what is now high fuel prices and groceries.’
Members, what do you think of King’s story? Do you have any ideas in mind about possible ways the government can help ease the effect of increasing rent, especially among retirees? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
While seniors may be receiving the aged pension, the costs of food, rent, medical services, and other essentials can eat up a large chunk of your monthly budget.
In some areas of the country, the rental crisis has gotten so bad that pensioners are just an increase in rent away from bankruptcy.
Annemarie King, a 69-year-old resident of South Tamworth, New South Wales, recently received written notice from her real estate agent that she would have to pay an extra $45 a week to bring her rent in line with the current market.
This means that from December her rent will increase 20 per cent from $235 per week to $280—nearly half of her fortnightly aged pension!
More pensioners struggle financially with the increasing rent. Credit: Unsplash
Since she had nowhere to go, she had no choice but to pay this amount.
‘I sent them an email, and I said I would accept the increase because I had no choice, but that I was doing it under duress,’ King said.
Considering the condition and age of the unit, which she estimated was built in the 1970s, it was far from perfect, according to King. She pointed out that with it not having any insulation, having rattling windows, and her paying a power bill of nearly $200 a month due to her medical condition—the 20 per cent rent increase did not seem fair.
‘Everything seems to centre around people living around cities, with the shortage of accommodation and the cost of accommodation. It's even worse in rural areas,’ King complained.
‘They keep building new houses, but they're for retirees that are coming from the city to the country, you know, that have sold their homes in Sydney, Melbourne, wherever, so they have the money to buy,’ she added.
‘Then there are people buying investment properties where they can lease these places out for $400, $500, $600 a week. They're just not building any affordable housing.’
King relies mostly on charity and aged care services from non-profit providers.
‘I can't afford to cut back on meds,’ King exclaimed.
‘I get Meals on Wheels, because as well as the lung problems, I have bad arthritis, so I can't do a lot of my own cooking anymore.’
‘I use Oxley Community Transport to go out and socialise because I don't have a family here, so I'll probably have to cut back on that, and I'll probably have to cut back on groceries as well,’ she continued.
‘In rural areas, because of the cost of fuel and transport, the cost of groceries here and services in general are high… your dollar doesn't go very far anymore.’
Jacqui Bijnens, Chief Operating Officer of real estate company PRD Tamworth, said that while vacancy rates in the area have increased to just two per cent in the last 12 months, the price for two-bedroom properties surged.
‘The increase in rents is getting higher for people living in three-bedroom, four-bedroom houses, so some of them are looking to downsize,’ Bijnens said.
She added, ‘Some people are thinking, “Instead of having that spare room I'm going to be looking more for a two-bedroom house or unit,” so the demand for those two-bedroom properties has increased… pushing up that price.’
‘The issue here is really a matter of supply and social affordable housing, and that is one Tamworth Regional Council have been looking into.
‘As well as how we can get even more investors back into the property market, and how we can get more properties built in Tamworth that will cater to the needs because the supply is not there for the people who need those two-bedroom properties.’
In New South Wales, landlords can increase rent once every 12 months for periodic leases, and they must give the tenants 60 days written notice regarding such increase. If the landlord increases rent ‘excessively,’ tenants may complain to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal within 30 days.
National Seniors Chief Operating Officer Chris Grice believes the rental crisis severely affects pensioners in regional and rural areas who don’t have homeownership.
He said, ‘When the government designed the Aged Pension many years ago, it was designed with the assumption that older people would own their own home.’
‘And now we sort of know from the Retirement Income Review, and even research we've done ourselves, that the number of older renters that are now in the marketplace, there's just so many more of them now,’ he added.
‘Particularly for older women, maybe they don't have large superannuation balances, or assets behind them, maybe as part of a separation they've had to sell the family home so they've moved into this rental space—and now with the cost of living crisis—they just don't have the cash.’
Grice emphasised that the solution to the crisis was more housing stock, which wouldn’t help those already going through tough times.
‘The pension should at least be consistent with what's happening with real inflation, a realistic and practical review of what the real cost of living is and to make sure the pension is in line with that,’ he said.
‘We also want indexation of the Commonwealth rent assistance to keep pace with these rental increases that are coming through. Because by the time they pay rent, it doesn't leave them with a lot to pay for what is now high fuel prices and groceries.’
Members, what do you think of King’s story? Do you have any ideas in mind about possible ways the government can help ease the effect of increasing rent, especially among retirees? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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