New tool reveals which areas are most 'vulnerable' for renters

THERE is a startling difference between the lives of renters in Gladstone's suburbs and outlying areas of the council's boundaries.

An aerial shot of Agnes Water main beach. According to new information, people renting in the region are more vulnerable than those in Gladstone suburbs. Picture: Contributed

THERE is a startling difference between the lives of renters in Gladstone's suburbs and outlying areas of the council's boundaries.

A rental vulnerability index, commissioned by Tenants Queensland, showed the areas where residents were most prone to problems that made their rental housing unaffordable, insecure or inappropriate.

Thirteen indicators of rental vulnerability were identified, in two broad categories: 'housing indicators' and 'people indicators'.

Housing indicators include: rental stress, social housing and marginal tenures such as boarding houses and caravan parks while personal indicators considered factors such as unemployment, single-parent households, low education, disability and both young and old renters.

The 4680 postcode has an indicator of 0.261 with 1 being high vulnerability and 0 low.

However people renting in the areas of Bororen and Turkey Beach were more vulnerable, with the indicator rising to 0.288.

It was even worse for those living in areas surrounding Agnes Water and Seventeen Seventy.

Agnes Water, Captain Creek, Colosseum, Eurimbula, Miriam Vale and Seventeen Seventy rates as 0.653 on the vulnerability index.

Tenants Queensland chief executive officer Penny Carr said the RVI showed many vulnerable households had been pushed out to the urban fringe and regional areas in search of cheaper housing and were still facing rental stress, with fewer opportunities to improve their circumstances over the long-term.

Ms Carr said the index would play a vital role in identifying the areas of most vulnerability and the support services needed.

"In its basic form, the RVI will help inform our own service delivery and enable us to track trends but at a higher level, it will educate government and broader network of community service providers with an understanding of the social and economic pressures affecting Queensland renters.

"These indicators that present definitive numbers make a convincing case for providing tenant advisory services to address rental vulnerability in the regions.

"The concern for Tenants Queensland is that when you get a high vulnerability index in regional areas where renters are becoming concentrated in locations and there is limited social infrastructure, it can lead to more social problems down the track.”

Originally published as New tool reveals which areas are most 'vulnerable' for renters