Wagga's rental crisis threatens homelessness for young families

Her fixed term lease is ending in one week, and she is facing the very real prospect of living out her car, with her two daughters.

"I've never in my life felt so much pressure, and so much stress," she said.

"I've broken out in a rash, I keep packing my house, and I keep working every day. All I do when I'm not at work is apply for property every day. I get probably ten rejections daily.

"I have two small girls, who, I haven't told them yet ... I've literally gone in to the real estate begging for help."

Belinda is one of many people in Wagga experiencing housing stress. CEO of local community services provider VERTO, which administers South Western Tenants' Advice and Advocacy program, Ron Maxwell said they were regularly hearing from people in Wagga about severe housing stress.

"VERTO's statistics reveal that end of fixed term and 90 day no grounds eviction notices have increased a whopping 170 per cent in Wagga Wagga since 2020," he said.

"Wagga Wagga's latest vacancy rates have also dropped to just 0.9 per cent.

"When you have a situation where rents are rapidly rising, are increasingly difficult to retain and it's incredibly difficult to find new housing, you unfortunately, have a perfect storm for many tenants."

Ms Landsdell said increased competition for rentals has made it almost impossible for her to appear competitive.

"I missed rent once during COVID times ... it was a very hard time, and it just seems to be following me around," she said.

"I hear conversations outside rentals I've gone to inspect where people are offering more money, which is very disheartening because prices are so high - that's well beyond my means anyway."

"Their father is already living out of his car. When it's his turn to look after the girls, he's doing it at my place. It's incredibly disheartening, and almost seems futile, but the only thing I can do is keep going ... I don't know what I'm going to do."

Data from rental bonds collected by the Tenants' Union shows the median rent in Wagga has risen by $57 in the 12 months to January 2023, putting stable housing out of reach for many residents.

Earlier this year, the Daily Advertiser reported the inability of local social housing to keep up with the rising number of people experiencing homelessness, and the commission of a Wagga Council report into how short term accommodation might be impacting local housing supply.

Major parties are offering a buffet of solutions to the rental crisis this election. The NSW Tenants' Union has been keeping track of these promises during the campaign, dubbing 2023 the "Renter's election".

The coalition, Labor and The Greens are unified on the need to provide more stability to renters through the reform of no grounds eviction, and making it easier for tenants to keep pets in their rentals.

While at first glance the policies seem similar, there are significant differences in detail between the three policies.

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Labor seek to replace no grounds evictions with a clearly outlined set of principles upon which an eviction can be made, with reasonable justifications to be determined by an independent rental commissioner. The Coalition are advocating and increase in notice for people on fixed term leases, replacing them with a set of "reasonable grounds" to be determined by community consultation. The Greens similarly seek to end no grounds evictions, but it is not clear what, if anything, will be considered reasonable grounds for eviction under their proposal.

While the NSW Tenants' Union have applauded the move to abolish a policy they have long said unfairly penalises people for not owning property, they have expressed concerns about when an eviction can reasonably be considered.

"It is not clear year that no grounds evictions at the end of fixed-term tenancy agreements will be removed," they said of Labor's policy.

While the same criticisms are made of Labor and Greens policies on no-grounds eviction, they point out legislation proposed by the Greens last year is suggestive of a different approach to Labor or the Coalition.

"the private member's Bill to remove 'no grounds' provisions introduced to NSW Parliament in September 2022 by Jenny Leong, the Greens' Housing spokes, demonstrates their commitment to removing no grounds evictions whether at the end of a fixed term or during a periodic tenancy," they said.

Whereas Labor are advocating a streamlining of the application and approvals process to keep pets in a rental properties, The Greens policy is simply summarised by the party as "let renters have pets". The Coalition have yet to formally announce a policy, but began an enquiry into the issue late last year.

Vinnies Wagga Wagga Central Council President Peter Burgess said the situation in Wagga is getting dire. Nearly half of all people contacting the St Vincent de Paul Micah Street hub are experiencing housing stress.

"I have serious concerns about where this ends in the future. We've had issues around Wilkes Park and the showground. That problem is growing," he said.

"We have people who, to put a roof over the head of their family are going hungry themselves.

"The Wagga council were talking about Wagga having 100,000 people, but they don't seem to be planning adequate housing and infrastructure here...Why is nobody saying we should build reasonable, affordable and attractive apartments closer to the middle of town?"

Although increasing supply is most often mentioned as the solution to NSW's housing woes, experts have suggested the type of housing provided matters as much as the total amount.

Planning economics expert Marcus Spiller wrote in February the problem of housing affordability will not be solved by more "trickle down" thinking.

According to Dr Spiller, more "affordable" rentals on the private market will not solve the rental crisis.

"Had Australia continued to build social housing at the average annual rate indicated in the 30 years till 1985, there would be more than 330,000 additional social housing units in service across the country today," he said.

"That is almost the same as the total existing social housing stock as counted in the 2021 census.

"The gamble conceived as part of the 1980s micro-economic reform process looked promising but has proven ruinously costly in terms of lost productivity and social cohesion. It is time for a different approach."

Mr Burgess thinks major parties lack the political will to address the issue of housing affordability in the long term.

"We have this myth in Australia about first home owners - people wanting to get into the market" he said.

"There's people who dream of getting into the market, but there's no way they ever will.

"Why aren't we aiming for social and affordable housing to take some of the heat out of the market? We're stuck in this rut of political messaging, and not looking at the harsh reality of where people are actually living."

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