Rental affordability: low income Tasmanians struggle to make ends meet as housing crisis deepens

Hobart’s Madeleine Irwin has a steady job in the hospitality industry but she lives a life of austerity as least half of her income going towards rent alone. HAVE YOUR SAY >>

Despite working a full-time job, Madeleine Irwin says the dire state of the rental market in Tasmania has forced her to live a life of austerity.

The 28-year-old hospitality worker says she’s never been able to afford a holiday and avoids medical appointments because of the cost.

“I went to the dentist for the first time in six years the other week,” Ms Irwin said.

“I never go to the doctor. Even if I’m unwell, unless it’s Covid symptoms, I come to work.

“I have to.”

Madeleine Irwin, struggling renter

In its 2022 Rental Affordability Snapshot, released on Thursday, Anglicare Tasmania found that Tasmanians on low incomes had little hope of securing a private rental.

The snapshot reviewed all the properties listed for rent across the state on a weekend in March, then determined if they were affordable and appropriate for different types of households on low incomes.

It showed that just one sharehouse was affordable for a person receiving Youth Allowance, two were affordable for a single person on JobSeeker, and four were affordable for a family where both parents received JobSeeker.

Anglicare general manager housing and community services Noel Mundy said a rental must cost no more than 30 per cent of household income if it was to be deemed affordable.

“Underinvestment in social housing comes at a cost,” he said. “The better path is a strong housing system to provide security and stability.”

Noel Mundy, of Anglicare Tasmania. Picture: NIKKI DAVIS-JONES

Despite her current struggles, Ms Irwin said she was in a far better rental situation now than she was previously.

In her former sharehouse, there was no heating and she and her fellow tenants were without hot water for two weeks during the winter.

Ms Irwin, who currently lives in a cottage in Hobart with two other people, said at least half her income went towards rent, which is about $250 a week.

“I should be young and having fun and running around but I feel like a 45-year-old woman, worrying about bills and turning everything off at the power point because we can’t afford extra (electricity costs),” she said.

The Hobart rental market is increasingly unaffordable for people on low incomes. Picture: Chris Kidd

Tasmanian Council of Social Service chief executive Adrienne Picone said the proportion of rent as a share of total wages in Tasmania was “impacting (people’s) ability to … buy food, afford healthcare and travel to school and work”.

Premier Jeremy Rockliff accepted that housing affordability was a “key issue” in Tasmania.

“What’s important to me is that our investments continue in terms of our $1.5b commitment (for) 10,000 homes over the next 10 years,” he said.

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