Families living in tents and cars on Gold Coast as vacancy rate hits record low
Families are living in cars and tents on the Gold Coast, forced to use public bathrooms to get their children ready for school.
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PARENTS are trying to bring up their children while living in cars or tents amid an unprecedented housing crisis on the Gold Coast.
Vacancy rate for rentals has fallen to a record low of 0.4 per cent in the city, while Gold Coast residents face Queensland’s longest average wait for social housing at 40 months.
Karen Phillips, who is an ambassador for the Vinnies CEO Sleepout, said there were families forced to use council facilities to get their children ready for school.
“They’re getting them ready in Surfers Paradise in the public showers, they’re dressing them and they’re going to school hungry,” Ms Phillips said. “For many of them, they’ve never been part of this framework before. where they rely on social housing or they rely on support mechanisms. We’re seeing an immense change.”
Vinnies Gold Coast Regional President Garry Webb said the charity had recently helped a woman who was living with her child in a tent.
Mr Webb said the charity was also trying to help prevent other people from becoming homeless amid sharply increased rental costs, but the surging demand was putting pressure on its limited funds.
“I also saw recently a single mum with a two-year-old,” Mr Webb said.
“She was behind in her rent.
“If you’re doing that (providing rental assistance) twice a year that’s $1000. You’re keeping a roof over her head, because once you lose the roof everything else starts to fall apart. It’s a relatively cheap win, but for us as a conference, $1000 is a lot of money.”
According to the Queensland Council of Social Service (QCOSS), there are currently 4971 people waiting for social housing on the Gold Coast from 3122 applications.
Children are included in 725 of those applications.
QCOSS CEO Aimee McVeigh said families were being forced into unimaginable situations.
“Women and children are returning to domestic violence situations and living in cars with newborns because there is nowhere else to go,” Ms McVeigh said.
“Children are going to school from cars, tents and motel rooms and the situation is getting worse. Everyone deserves a home and we are calling on all parties contesting the federal election to ensure this is the case.”
* The Vinnies CEO Sleepout takes part on June 23 at CBUS Super Stadium. To learn more, visit www.ceosleepout.org.au
‘COMPLETELY BROKEN’: GREENS PLAN TO FIX HOUSING CRISIS
Rent increases would be capped and no-grounds evictions banned under a new plan to curb the Gold Coast’s housing crisis.
Greens deputy leader and Queensland senator Larissa Waters will make the announcement on the Gold Coast this morning.
The Bulletin revealed last week the Gold Coast had hit a new record low in rental vacancies and surging rental costs.
New figures also showed that in the city’s fast growing north there have been less than 100 new social housing properties built in six years.
Ms Waters on Tuesday announced the Greens plan to clear public housing waitlists and housing insecurity in the Gold Coast’s “completely broken” market.
“While some people are making huge profits from housing, others don’t even have a roof over their heads,” she said.
“The social housing waitlist in Queensland is now over 50,000, including around 6000 people on the Gold Coast alone, while in electorates like Moncrieff and Fadden nearly half of all renters are experiencing housing stress.
“The Greens want to build 1 million homes across the country to eliminate the housing waitlist and provide a secure and affordable home to everyone.
“On the Gold Coast alone that would be 28,900 homes, with a total of 240,500 across the whole state.”
The group also plans to “phase out” tax perks for property investors and ban “unfair rent hikes”.
RENTAL VACANCIES HIT RECORD LOW
MARCH 29: New figures show rental vacancies have reached a stunning new low on the Gold Coast.
The REIQ’s Residential Vacancy Report for the March 2022 quarter, released on Friday, shows the vacancy rate at a record 0.4 per cent in the city.
The figure – the worst ever seen on the Gold Coast – is another significant drop on the 0.6 per cent recorded for most of last year.
The REIQ classifies rental markets with a vacancy rate between zero and 2.5 per cent as “tight”, and 2.6 to 3.5 per cent as “healthy”.
REIQ CEO Antonia Mercorella said investors on the Gold Coast were selling properties or moving them to the more lucrative holiday letting market.
“Just two years ago, the Gold Coast was recording a healthy vacancy rate of three per cent, but since then vacancies have been gradually trending tighter and tighter, now sitting at a record low of 0.4 per cent,” Ms Mercorella said.
“At an incredibly low vacancy rate of 0.4 per cent it’s likely anyone looking for a rental property in the Gold Coast market is going to find it quite challenging due to the level of competition.
“We are seeing more and more investors making the decision to sell their investment properties or transferring them to into the holiday or short-term letting market, which can be particularly appealing in tourism locations.”
The lack of available properties has led to surging rental costs on the Gold Coast, which now outstrip even Sydney.
Figures revealed by the Bulletin in November last year showed renting a house in the southern Gold Coast cost an average of $823.30 per week, while in the city’s north the average cost is $763.10.
Vinnies Gold Coast Regional President Garry Webb said he was “gobsmacked” by the new vacancy figure.
“It reflects reality, but it also reflects the magnitude of the problem,” he said.
Mr Webb said the organisation had been helping people on the Gold Coast living in cars and tents as a result of the housing crisis.
“My conference is Surfers Paradise. We’re seeing more non-fixed addresses,” he said. “It’s increasing, there’s no question.”
Mr Webb was speaking at the launch of the charity’s CEO Sleepout, which takes place on June 23.
Vinnies is calling on local businesses and community leaders to register for the event, which raises much-needed funds for Vinnies’ housing and homelessness services.
News of the record low vacancy rate comes as new figures from the Department of Housing revealed less than 100 new social housing properties have been created in the northern Gold Coast in six years.
The number of social housing properties in the electorates of Broadwater, Coomera and Theodore rose from a combined total of 499 in 2016 to just 582 as of March 31, 2022.
It is an increase of just 83 properties in six years, and a decrease from the 586 properties recorded in June 2021.
The Queensland Council of Social Services (QCOSS) also announced Gold Coasters face the state’s longest social housing wait with an average of 40 months.
A spokesperson said: “There are currency 3122 applications, the second highest in Queensland, containing 4971 people.
“725 of those applications include children,with 685 single parents and 565 applications with kids marked as urgent.”
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