Families out in the cold

Single mothers throughout the Illawarra are being pushed out of the rental market by unscrupulous landlords and a flawed system that has reached crisis point.

Landlords are advertising properties that specify single mothers are not welcome to apply – and one local emergency accommodation service has shut down waiting lists for the next two months due to overwhelming demand.

A spokesperson for Wollongong Women’s Housing said the situation was unprecedented.

“I have been working in this field for 15 years and it has never been this bad – there has never been such panic,” the spokesperson said.

“The situation is totally regulated by offer and demand – so many people are being left in the cold and people are basically at the mercy of the decency of their landlord.”

The spokesperson told the Wollongong and Northern Leader that the service has been forced to close its waiting list for the first time, with 80 families already waiting for just 30 properties – and an existing waiting period that could stretch for years.

“Putting people on the waiting list was just unrealistic because it was giving them false hope,” she said.

Kristy is a 26-year-old mother of two boys who works full time and is currently being assisted by Wollongong Women’s Housing.

In the last three weeks she has applied for, and been refused for, eight rental properties.

Only three of them bothered to notify her and she is still waiting to hear back from another 20 regarding appointment times.

Kristy, unable to afford a car, said she relies on public transport to travel to inspect properties.

“It makes it hard because they only have appointments at the most inappropriate times and then they cancel them on the spot,” she said.

“I’m working to get ahead but then I’m penalised because, as someone employed, I am out there doing it on my own and am not eligible for a lot of the assistance – so I’m damned if I do and damned if I don’t.”

Angela, 23, is a mother of two studying Business Administration at TAFE.

She has applied for 10 rental properties in the last three months and said she was often treated disrespectfully.

“You ring up and if the advertisement is by a private landlord they will hang up as soon as you say that you are a single mum – they don’t even let you explain,” Angela said.

“When you turn up to look at a property there are 10 or 15 people there at the same time and when you are refused the landlords are very rude and never say why you were declined.”

Angela is currently in a property supplied by Wollongong Women’s Housing that the Department of Housing had earmarked for demolition.

She said she does not know when the property will be demolished, so does not know how long her young family will have a roof over their heads.

She described her current accommodation as ‘liveable.’

Angela said the uncertainty and constant moving – particularly from one school to another – was stressful for her two children, aged three and six.

The Federal Government has doubled its affordable rental home scheme after new research showed more than one million Australians were suffering housing stress.

Under the scheme, investors can claim a tax credit of $6000 a year for 10 years for new properties that are rented at 20 per cent below the market rate.

State and territory governments have agreed to provide $2000 a home either through cash payments or in kind.

The aim is to cut rent on a new average three bedroom unit to $280 a week, down from the current $350.