Hundreds of Tasmanians are just months away from housing limbo as the ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ Rental Affordability Scheme for their homes ends next year.
Shadow Housing Minister Ella Haddad said as the clock ticks on the rental subsidy scheme, many Tasmanian residents are under considerable stress as they face potentially having to find somewhere else to live right as the rental and housing market is exploding.
Ms Haddad said a group of Redwood Village residents in Kingston are among those affected and have been unable to get any certainty on what the future holds when funding for their properties end.
“These residents have been treated in an unacceptable manner, with limited communication from the Federal Government and they face an uncertain future,” Ms Haddad said.
“NRAS is a Federal Government scheme, where people rent in the private market with subsidies provided to their landlords as an incentive to provide affordable rental housing.
“This group of 11 two-bedroom units is set have the NRAS payments expire in June and residents have been given no clarity.
“These residents don’t know if they can stay on in their homes after NRAS expires. They don’t know how much they will have to pay and with the private rental market so tight, they fear they can’t afford to pay market rent.”
Labor Member for Franklin Dean Winter said the affected Redwood Village residents are mostly in their 70s and 80s and each of them wants to stay in their home of many years.
“One of the tenants is currently paying $223 a week – an online search shows the cheapest rental currently available in Kingston is well over $300 a week,” Mr Winter said.
“The owners of these units have told tenants they should just register for public housing but because they have not been given notice and they are currently housed; their applications will not be treated as high priority.
“This is an issue of housing affordability. It is getting harder and harder for Tasmanians to make ends meet and it’s getting worse.”
Ms Haddad said the Gutwein Government’s own data showed there are already 4,468 Tasmanians on the housing wait list, which is growing month on month.
She said NRAS tenants pay at least 20 per cent less than market rates and with the scheme coming to an end, rents will significantly rise.
“The Liberal Government’s, state and federal have known about the end of this scheme for a long time and it will only add to the housing crisis, which is going from bad to worse,” Ms Haddad said.
Ella Haddad MP
Shadow Housing Minister
Dean Winter MP
Labor Member for Franklin
