Warrnambool woman living in motel desperate to secure rental

Maddie Kellett, 18, told The Standard in June her attempts to secure a rental had been unsuccessful and she was sleeping in a tent in the backyard of a friend's house.

Since then, she moved into a motel, but has to leave ahead of the busy summer period.

"I moved out of the tent in late June and have been in the motel since," Ms Kellett said. "It's costing me about $500 a week. I have been asked to move out now because they need the room available for tourists over the holiday period as it's going to get really busy with tourists in Warrnambool."

Ms Kellett is desperate to secure a rental.

Otherwise, she may be forced to leave the city, which she loves.

Ms Kellett has two jobs to be able to cover the cost of staying at the motel.

She said she was now desperate to secure a house/apartment/unit or even another motel room or cabin at a caravan park.

Ms Kellett's comments come as a recently released rental report confirms it has become tougher to secure housing in the city.

The Rental Affordability Index, prepared by SGS Economics and Planning, shows rental affordability in regional Victoria had hit a historic low.

"The average rental household seeking to rent in regional Victoria now faces paying 26 per cent of its total income if renting at the median rental rate," it states.

"Affordability in regional cities such as Bendigo and Warrnambool declined steadily, although less dramatically, moving from acceptable to moderately unaffordable over the past two years."

Everybody's Home spokeswoman Maiy Azize said the report showed the results of the chronic underinvestment in affordable housing over the past decade.

"Australia's housing crisis has reached fever pitch," she said.

"No part of the country has been spared. Rents are shooting up in towns and regions, and our cities have never been more expensive.

"It's clear that the chronic underinvestment in social and affordable housing over the past decade has created a domino effect of housing stress in all corners of the country.

"Stagnant wages, low rental vacancy rates and rising interest rates all add to rental stress but the huge shortfall in social and affordable housing is one of the biggest drivers."

Ms Azize said immediate action needed to be taken.

"We are seeing more and more Australians competing in an unaffordable rental market, because there's less social and affordable housing available compared with a decade ago," she said.

"We need governments to ensure all of us have a safe place to call home by building at least 25,000 social and affordable houses each year to keep up with demand."

She said the Commonwealth Rent Assistance scheme also needed to be expanded.

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