Bendigo rental vacancy rate crisis leads to rise in homelessness
Bendigo is in the grips of a rental vacancy crisis which has become so dire that more and more people are being forced to live in motels, camping grounds, couches and cars.
Bendigo
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Bendigo is in the grips of a rental vacancy crisis which is forcing hundreds of people into homelessness.
According to the Real Estate Institute of Victoria, the region recorded the sixth lowest vacancy rate for Victoria in January, at just 0.8 per cent.
Bendigo Real Estate director Damien O’Shannessy said the vacancy rate was the lowest he had seen in 30 years in the real estate business.
The dire situation has seen a rise in Bendigo’s motels, camping grounds, couches and cars becoming the temporary homes for people searching for a place to live.
Mr O’Shannessy said a single real estate listing right now could receive up to 38 inquiries.
“Three years ago you might get 10 to 12,” he said.
“It’s becoming a social issue with the limited amount of housing … this has an impact on the most vulnerable members of the community.”
Ms O’Shannessy said single parents, students and people in the NDIS were some of the hardest hit.
Mother of two Ranee Shaw has been homeless for seven months after being forced out of her home during the height of the pandemic.
Ms Shaw said she and her one-year-old and six-year-old daughters left their old home in June.
Ms Shaw said they had spent seven months living on couches, caravan parks. motels, cabins and even tents.
The mother of two said it was emotionally draining to wake up each morning not knowing where her children could sleep at any given night.
“It’s the sense of failure every day,” she said.
“It’s knowing that tomorrow is going to bring another ‘No’.
“I feel like a sh-t mum at times, how do you explain this to a six-year-old?”
While rental support services are available, Ms Shaw said she was told there were extensive waiting lists for community housing.
Seshenudra Koppula said scammers and dodgy landlords were common stories for international students.
The La Trobe student arrived in Bendigo from India in February 2020 and moved into a seven-person share house in Flora Hill.
As they were not familiar with Victorian rental standards, he said they were not told to register their bond or have a formal rental agreement.
“We are not aware of the rule and some of the people are cashing in on that,” he said.
When COVID hit many of his roommates returned home, forcing Mr Koppula to search for a new place without a formal rental history.
Over the past eight months Mr Koppula said he had applied to dozens of properties, and had been rejected by all of them.
Mr Koppula said it was also difficult to prove too that he could make his weekly payments, as his visa limited his working hours.
Kennington resident Karrina White said she was tired of the rental market and was looking to buy a home, after being forced to share a bedroom with her 10-year-old daughter, Skye for a month.
Ms White said she had to leave her previous Strathdale rental after being evicted by her roommate, who also owned the property.
“It wasn’t a very pretty ending,” she said.
Ms White said she had to turn to a popular Facebook group, Bendigo Gal Pals, for help and was offered a spare room with two beds by another woman.
The single mother said this was almost the only way to quickly find rentals in town.
“You have to sneak in with someone else – that’s what it feels like just to get a roof over your head,” she said.
“It’s felt a bit cramped to jam in a household of stuff into a single room.”
“But desperate times call for desperate measures.”
Mr O’Shannessy said there had been a steady decline in the regional rental market following the 2008 global financial crisis, which had worsened under the new rental reforms and COVID pandemic.
“It didn’t happen overnight,” Mr O’Shannessy said.
“There’s pent up demand … people just stopped doing rental properties and building new ones,” he said.
Bendigo resident Paul Smith said landlords were not immune to the pain, having to hear the heart-wrenching stories from his prospective tenants.
“Everyone thinks ‘that’s great for the landlords because there’s plenty to choose from,” he said.
“They’re desperate. They’re homeless, they’re living in cars and couch surfing.
“We’re all human and we all live in Australia and we all deserve the basics.”
Mr Smith said he owned a few properties around central Bendigo, including homes in Epson, White Hills and Bendigo.
He said he had managed properties for 30 years, but the stories of desperation had worsened as the rental market shrunk.
“Bendigo is busting at the seams,” Mr Smith said.
Mr Smith said he no longer publicly advertised properties, but would contact renters directly over social media.
He said this practice was now commonplace among private landlords.
Bendigo median weekly rents
Provided by the REIV
| Suburb | December 2020 Median weekly rent | Change from December 2019 |
| BENDIGO (suburb) | $335.00 | $15 |
| CALIFORNIA GULLY | $288.00 | -$13 |
| EAGLEHAWK | $320.00 | $20 |
| EAST BENDIGO | $345.00 | $5 |
| EPSOM | $370.00 | $25 |
| FLORA HILL | $315.00 | $0 |
| GOLDEN SQUARE | $330.00 | $10 |
| HEATHCOTE | $335.00 | $15 |
| HUNTLY | $350.00 | $30 |
| JACKASS FLAT | $345.00 | $0 |
| KANGAROO FLAT | $350.00 | $30 |
| KENNINGTON | $330.00 | $10 |
| LONG GULLY | $320.00 | $30 |
| MAIDEN GULLY | $400.00 | $20 |
| NORTH BENDIGO | $320.00 | $5 |
| QUARRY HILL | $348.00 | $18 |
| SPRING GULLY | $350.00 | $10 |
| STRATHDALE | $350.00 | -$10 |
| STRATHFIELDSAYE | $420.00 | -$10 |
| WHITE HILLS | $350.00 | $10 |
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