Tony Perrett, Communities and Housing speak out on Gympie rental crisis

Tony Perrett has spoken out about the Gympie region’s worsening rental crisis, and the Gympie council has been called on to make some of the cabins at the recently closed centrally located caravan park available for those facing homelessness.

Gympie’s impossible rental market is tightening even more, leaving an increasing number of people desperate and facing homelessness.

It comes after the State Government recently announced its Help to Home program, where registered community housing providers will be able to sublease private properties for public housing.

Veteran, Leon Jones “Jim” Roulston, 79, found himself stuck in a three-month rental limbo recently after being evicted from his home of seven years.

“Even the RSL couldn’t get him a place,” close friend Carol Wheatley said.

The Gympie market was so tight it was hard to even get an inspection, she said.

“We went to every single real estate agent. (Mr Roulston) had a great reference from the owner, a good rental history and he had everything there. He just couldn’t find a place,” she said.

After three months of searching, they went to the Gympie RSL, where only by coincidence one of the employees had just renovated a property and leased it to Mr Roulston.

The one other viewing they went to was a two bedroom property listed for $320 a week, which had a hole in the roof, a rusted front door that wouldn’t shut properly and cupboards with handles missing.

“He couldn’t even get a caravan,” Mrs Wheatley said.

Gympie MP Tony Perrett warned residents that it was going to become harder to find any sort of housing in the region.

“The State Government’s new idea is to compete against private renters when there is next to nothing available,” he said.

Gympie’s impossible rental market is tightening even more, leaving an increasing number of people desperate and facing homelessness.

The Help to Home initiative would only make things worse for the region as it would shift the problem to the private rental marketplace, Mr Perrett said.

“This will just make things worse for Gympie people trying to put a roof over their heads. More people will be competing for a smaller pool of available housing.”

Housing and Public Works Minister Leeanne Enoch was “out of her depth” and leading the region into a “catastrophic disaster”, Mr Perrett said.

A Communities, Housing and Digital Economy Department spokesperson said the Help to Home initiative would provide 1000 properties in Queensland over the next two years.

As of December 31, 2021, the State Government head-leased 141 properties to families in the Wide Bay and Gympie regions, they said.

“Tenants in Help to Home properties will pay the same income based affordable rent as they would in other types of social housing. The landlord gets paid an agreed rental amount irrespective of the actual rental income received through tenants.”

The Real Estate Institute of Queensland has a ranking system of tight, healthy and weak markets. Gympie falls into the tight market with a 0.3% vacancy rate and “incredibly tight territory” description.

Opposition spokesperson for housing and public works, Tim Mander, accused the State Government this week of privatising social housing and “failing to deliver a home for thousands of Queensland families desperate for a roof over their head”.

Mrs Wheatley’s daughter, Peta, has called on Gympie Regional Council to re-open the cabins from the recently shut caravan park.

“They’re in perfectly good condition, we should be using them,” she said.

Gympie Mayor, Glen Hartwig, told the Gympie Times that the cabins were unsafe and uninhabitable but they’re willing to work with the State Government on the issue.

“There are compliance issues across building, plumbing and sewerage leaving the site not only dangerous but unsanitary,” he said.