Housing crisis leaves Victorian town Castlemaine with just 10 homes to rent

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Australian rental market has become so contracted experts are suggesting a return to housing commission estates as a solution. The latest data shows vacancy rates are less than one percent in almost 70 communities across the country, leaving many families feeling homeless, living in tents and caravans.

Transcript

00:00Chantelle Podaski and her son Zeon have been trying to secure a rental in Castlemaine,

00:07northwest of Melbourne, for more than a year.

00:10In the meantime, they're doing their best to make this bit of bushland a home.

00:15I've gone from hardly being able to afford a rental and maybe being able to get somebody

00:20else in to rent with me, but now there's not even that available.

00:27Housing data shows there are 68 regional communities across Australia with a rental

00:32vacancy rate of less than 1%.

00:34It's wonderful for the owner-occupiers who buy those homes, but of course every property

00:40that's sold by an investor to an owner-occupier is one less rental property available.

00:45In Castlemaine, there are just 10 rental listings online, so housing workers are approaching

00:49owners of vacant properties, and even asking shop owners to lease out their upstairs rooms.

00:55We've managed to release 10 vacant dwellings as affordable rentals, and three shop tops.

01:00And availability is just part of the issue.

01:03Since COVID, rents for houses have climbed $280 a week, and with Australians now paying

01:08an average of $700 a week in rent, housing experts say a return to commission housing

01:14is needed.

01:15That would mean that people who are currently having to rely on private rental don't have

01:19to.

01:20They're in social housing, like post-war 50s, 60s Australia.

01:24As the Podaski family continues to try and keep their food cool by day, and themselves

01:29warm at night, a housing solution seems a long way off.

01:33It's tiring, emotionally and mentally.

01:36I don't know, you just get to the point where you think, what's the point?

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