Australia’s housing market has been in crisis for years and it only seems to be getting worse.
Renters are finding more of their pay cheque is disappearing each month as interest rate hikes and tight rental supply drive prices up.
And when problems arise, tenants are often intimidated by the daunting process of escalating their issues to government regulators.
Jordie Van Den Berg a.k.a. Purple Pingers tells The Briefing why renters are struggling on the second episode of this three part series:
Horror stories of no-grounds evictions, ignored maintenance requests and steep rent hikes are common, but renters are struggling to fight back.
“You’ve got the tribunals,” Van Den Berg says. “They’re not doing their job, and that’s just a fact.”
A recent survey has found 82 per cent of respondents were spending more than 30 per cent of their income on housing, which is classified as ‘rental stress’.
“We do need things like rent caps and rent freezes because people are struggling now,” Van Den Berg says.
Rents increased 9.1 per cent for houses and 13.1 per cent for units between December 2022 to December 2023.
“I think [a Royal Commission] would be a good idea. Whether or not it will happen is yet to be seen.”
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