Fears for future as report reveals scale of Townsville's housing crisis
Townsville families are abandoning plans to have children as housing costs soar beyond reach, with thousands trapped on social housing waiting lists.
Low-income families in Townsville are facing a cruel and unforgiving Christmas as housing pressures continue to crush families, according to a new report.
CEO of the Queensland Council of Social Service Aimee McVeigh said the organisation’s latest Living Affordability breakdown, released just before the holidays, painted a grim view of housing affordability in North Queensland.
“When you look at Townsville, you can see that there are incredibly low vacancy rates. We know that the cost of housing is one of the biggest, growing cost pressures on a household budget,” Ms McVeigh said.
“There is basically no housing in Townsville for people who are living in the low income bracket. There’s a particular impact there.”
Ms McVeigh said the report had found that transport, energy and food costs were climbing across regional Queensland - and that government policy had failed to halt the crisis.
“What this shows is that successive governments have failed to put the focus where it needs to be - rather than huge cash splashes before elections or support that is not targeted, what we do need is for governments to pay particular attention to people who are living in poverty; struggling families who are working hard and unable to afford the basics.
“We need government to do that targeted work and support people on low incomes because it benefits our kids.”
According to the report, which was accompanied by a survey of over 1000 Queensland households, a 2.5 per cent vacancy rate is considered “healthy and balanced” by the real estate industry, but Townsville and many other regional centres remains well below that.
Townsville sits at a 0.8 per cent vacancy rate, according to the Real Estate Institute of Queensland statistics cited in the report, well below what is consdiered healthy, and significantly below the 4 per-cent estimate where the report’s authors would expect to see downward pressure put on rental prices.
Only Toowoomba (0.5 per cent) and Cairns (0.7 per cent) had lower vacancy rate percentages of the major regional centres, with Townsville still having more people on the social housing waiting list - 4,392 compared to 3,567 for Cairns and 2,134 for Toowoomba.
According to Ms McVeigh housing and rental costs remain the pre-eminent concern for struggling families, but certainly not the only one.
“People are really worried about whether they can keep a roof over their head, but we also heard some very frightening things when it comes to raising a family, especially from young people,” Ms McVeigh said.
“They’re struggling so much with the cost of living that they’re reconsidering whether to have children themselves - or families with children already, they’re struggling to afford food or even clothing.”
While the report outlines an immediate crisis that needs addressing, Ms McVeigh warned there would be knock-on effects in the future if swift action isn’t taken.
“When a child doesn’t have a secure home, when they don’t have enough food, if they’re not being taken to the doctor when they’re sick, there’s an immediate impact on that child and their quality of life,” Ms McVeigh said.
“But then there’s long-term impacts in terms of the outcomes that child is going to have as a productive person in our community.
“If we have more and more people who are unable to afford a basic standard of living, who have not had a good childhood, we will continue to see more issues with crime. This relates to youth crime and there’s a significant impact on our child protection system.
“It’s tempting to blame families and parents, but what this report does show is that - despite people’s best efforts - it is really, really hard to afford a basic standard of living when you’re on a low income.”
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Originally published as Fears for future as report reveals scale of Townsville's housing crisis
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