JUDY Harrison is worried that renters are being unfairly disadvantaged by the application of an un-mandated housing affordability metric by property managers.
She moderates the Housing Rentals Coffs Coast social media group, which has more than 20,000 members, and she has seen a worrying trend.
Ms Harrison says more single mothers, and other vulnerable groups, are missing out on property rentals because agents appear to be prioritising the higher-salaried applicants – potentially biasing offers towards dual-income households.
One mother said she has applied for more than 200 properties during the past eight months.
NOTA has seen numerous comments from people in the group with similar stories.
Many of these mothers and children are living in short-term accommodation such as hotels. Others say they have moved away to look for more affordable housing elsewhere, uprooting their families from community networks and taking children out of school and away from friendship groups.
“The 30 per cent rent-to-income rule actually comes from a decades-old formula in relation to measuring housing stress for lower- income tenants,” Ms Harrison said.
“It is now being used to disadvantage them..
“It is affecting aged pensioners as well; some I know live in fear of every rent increase.”
Ms Harrison also notes the cost to the Federal Government and taxpayers of having to house so many people in emergency short-term accommodation due to their risk of homelessness.
She thinks a better solution could be increasing Commonwealth Rent Assistance.
NOTA asked the Real Estate Industry of NSW (REINSW) about property managers using the 30 per cent metric, whether filtering out stable single-income applicants constitutes de facto discrimination, and their thoughts on the real estate industry’s social responsibility toward lower-income families facing homelessness.
A REINSW representative clarified they do not mandate income formulas.
They affirmed that agents operated in the best interest of landlords and maintained that they were unaware of systemic issues regarding single-income applicants.
The REINSW instead cited a lack of affordable housing as the core problem.
They also noted that professional development training that agents received was determined annually by NSW Fair Trading, and that they believed that all industries and the community had a moral duty to assist the less fortunate.
“Agents have a very good history of supporting their communities in a variety of ways,” the REINSW representative said.
They believed the real issue was a need for a lot more property, particularly affordable property.
NSW Tenants Union Policy and Advocacy Manager Eloise Parrab confirmed the 30 per cent formula had indeed been around for decades and that she believed it was still often used in assessing applications for housing assistance.
She noted that while it was not a required formula for real estate agents, there was currently no transparency in the rental application process.
“…[W]e don’t know what factors are considered when accepting or rejecting an application,” Ms Parrab said.
“We know, though, that they are likely doing a risk assessment and … are motivated to select the applicant who has the highest income.”
The NSW Tenants Union advocates for increased social housing, regulated rents, increases to rent assistance and standardised, transparent application processes to protect tenants and reduce discrimination.
Federal member for Cowper Pat Conaghan told NOTA, “I do believe that there is a case to have this particular payment [rent assistance] increased, noting that it is meant for use by specific groups, including single parents, and has strict eligibility criteria.”
“We are seeing more and more families couch-surfing and living out of cars, and we need to provide adequate safety nets to stop this continuing to snowball.”
State Member for Oxley Michael Kemp said, “I hear these stories in my electorate every week, single mums with steady jobs and good references being turned away simply because one income does not tick a box.”
“It is heartbreaking and it is avoidable.
“The screening rule everyone is angry about hurts more because there are so few homes to go around.”
He added that banning the use of income-rent ratios wouldn’t fix the systemic problem.
“The honest answer is that the government has to protect vulnerable women and children by fixing the cause, which means freeing up land and approvals to build, and putting serious effort into social and affordable housing,” Mr Kemp said.
“That is what I am pressing ministers and agencies on, because the families I represent cannot wait.”
By Jessica MILLER
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