Brisbane renters fall through the loop due to lack of guidelines, basic living standards needed
THE rental situation has become so dire people are renting chicken pens and garages to maintain shelter, according to accommodation support groups.
THE rental situation has become so dire people are renting chicken pens and garages just to maintain shelter according to accommodation support groups.
She said overcrowding, mould issues and getting repairs to property were just some of the challenges for tenants too scared to `rock the boat' for fear of retribution from landlords.
"Market forces don't offer any protection,'' she said.
"There really is a place for more affordable housing and some kind of regulation around standards.''
Queensland Shelter executive officer Adrian Pisarski said he'd seen one couple rent out a chook pen in desperation.
"It's outrageous really.
"It was in a mining region where there was really nothing to rent and they were low income folks and that was about the only thing they could find,'' he said.
Around Brisbane, poorly maintained property, illegal boarding houses and people living in garages are becoming the norm as more and more people were priced out of the rental market, he said.
"I've heard reports of many students renting overcrowded properties that aren't properly registered as boarding houses but operating as boarding house.
"Low income people can't compete,'' he said.
According to the Rental Tenancies Authority, whether a dwelling such as a garage is suitable for someone to live in is a matter for the local council, which administers building regulations and local health and safety laws.
Residential Tenancies Authority (RTA) General Manager Fergus Smith said both tenants and landlords had obligations the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act (2008).
"The Act does not set standards for compliance, it sets general requirements about the condition of the property,'' he said.
A spokesperson for Brisbane City Council said in 2009, council amended its House Code ruling that no more than five unrelated persons can legally reside in the same house.
"Garages and sheds are not considered habitable dwellings and need to be converted to operate as such.
"This requires building approval and may need planning approval from Council.
"Council takes breaches of health, safety and local amenity law seriously and investigates any complaints received.
But Mr Pisarski said frustrated home owners "renting down'' had left low-income earners with significantly less accommodation options.
"Properties that are at the lower-end of the market tend to be occupied, not by low income folk, but by people who could actually probably afford to pay a reasonable bit more.
"The real problem is supply and we still have not done enough to make sufficient supply particularly at the lower end of the market,'' he said.