South-west residents access rental assistance during pandemic

SalvoConnect western regional manager Lindsay Stow said 106 households had accessed funding through the Private Rental Assistance Program due to financial issues relating to coronavirus.

Mr Stow said the extra funds were used by 74 households to pay their rent, while the other households accessed money to move into a new rental.

He said there was a large amount of people in the south-west who were finding it difficult to find affordable housing.

Mr Stow said social distancing meant couch surfing was not an option for some people who had previously sought refuge at different homes.

"That's probably not a viable option at the moment," he said.

Mr Stow said the high cost of rent made it difficult for people who had lost income due to the coronavirus pandemic.

"Private rentals are difficult to access across the region and they're certainly fairly expensive," he said.

His comments come as results of a survey reveal fewer than one in 10 renters who lost income due to the coronavirus pandemic received a rent reduction they were satisfied with.

The survey conducted by advocacy group Better Renting found 63 per cent of renters surveyed had lost income due to the pandemic, but of those only one in two asked for a rent reduction. There were 967 renters surveyed across Australia.

Of those who had lost income, only 9 per cent received a satisfactory reduction, 20 per cent had their reductions refused and 7.5 per cent had their rent deferred.

One of the survey respondents who had a reduction refused said it took more than a fortnight for her request to be acknowledged.

"I asked for a rent reduction as soon as I lost my job over two months ago. They didn't get back to me for 15 days, didn't send me editable forms and asked for all my bank statements, asked me to withdraw my super," the respondent said.

"It was awful. They still rejected my request."

Renters were worried about what could happen when eviction moratoriums were lifted, Better Renting executive director Joel Dignam said.

"It's a terribly stressful situation for renters. For most renters having an eviction notice land in the letterbox is their worst fear," he said.

"Many tenants who are out of work and out-of-pocket due to the coronavirus crisis face dire circumstances if eviction moratoriums are lifted in September and October."

Mr Dignam said there were concerns from tenants about what will happen when the JobSeeker rate is cut in September. He called for it to be kept at the current rate of $1100 a fortnight.

"Australia was in the grip of a housing affordability crisis before the pandemic hit. Rental costs have been rising faster than wages for decades [and] now many renters find themselves spending more than 50 per cent of their income on rent," he said.

"With so few landlords giving rent reductions and so many renters losing income we are worried about a situation where renters are getting into debt and possibly losing their homes."

Have you signed up to The Standard's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in the south-west.