Tenants seek legal aid as regional rent, housing reaching crisis point

A concerning new report has found a 45 per cent rise in desperate renters seeking legal help against short-term leases and unfair evictions amid NSW’s housing monopoly.

Renters slugged by NSW’s devastating housing crises are turning to Legal Aid NSW in a desperate bid to keep a roof over their heads in a market that is forcing people onto streets and into tents, new statistics show. 

The legal service has seen a 45 per cent increase in clients at risk of homelessness seeking legal advice about their housing — with housing assistance among the top categories.

Legal Aid NSW has seen a 53 per cent increase in clients at risk of losing their homes in the past 12 months alone with the majority living in the regions.

New figures from PropTrack also showed the national rental vacancy rate have dropped to 1.6 per cent, a historic low, while rents grew at their fastest quarterly rate in September, up 4.3 per cent.

Solicitor Natalie Bradshaw said the housing mark was reaching a crisis point. 

The housing shortage in NSW has reached “crisis point”. Picture: NCA Newswire / Gaye Gerard

“Requests for help have massively increased in the past two years, and regional areas are bearing the brunt of it,” she said.

“The rental situation has tightened since Covid and the floods, and housing continues to be increasingly unaffordable, which has put even more pressure on the people in our community experiencing disadvantage, who could not secure safe and stable housing before these events.”

Debbie McDonald is one of many renters affected by the crisis. Picture: Andy Zakeli

Among the scores of people needing help was 60-year-old Debbie McDonald who was forced to live in a tent and later in her truck with her nine-year-old granddaughter after she was kicked out of her rental on no grounds.

Ms McDonald said she was put in rental properties on three month leases — forcing her and her granddaughter to live in constant uncertainty.

The 60-year-old was forced to live in a tent, then a truck due to evictions on no grounds. Picture: Andy Zakeli

The pair have now found housing through the support of legal aid NSW.

“We had done nothing wrong. It’s so hard finding money for the bond every time … My daughter has been in a similar situation, stuck in motels, paying half her income in rent,” she said.

“The stress of knowing where you will be or what you’ll do … My hair was falling out.

“I lived in Sussex Inlet and 90 per cent of the properties there are Airbnbs. When I first moved down here I moved in a tent by myself for two weeks.”