By Cam Lucadou-Wells
Less than 20 rental dwellings in Greater Dandenong were affordable to households on income support, according to a recent report.
Anglicare Victoria’s 2021 Rental Affordability Snapshot found 19 listings (or 2.9 per cent) were affordable to people on income support on Saturday 27 March.
For minimum wage earners, 225 rentals (about 34 per cent) were considered affordable.
The study defined an ‘affordable’ home as costing less than 30 per cent of income without over-crowding bedrooms.
Despite the stark statistics, Greater Dandenong was rated among the top-10 most affordable council areas in Melbourne.
But the tragic plight of an asylum-seeking family who lost their four-year-old son Rithish Kirushnaneethan in a house fire in Dandenong on 25 July has highlighted ‘slum’ housing in the region.
The family says no smoke alarm was installed in the house at the time, and believe that either a gas leak or heater were involved. The cause of the fire has yet to be confirmed.
They’d also recently moved out of a ‘slum’ apartment in Stud Road two weeks after arriving from Perth.
Support agencies have reported many “deteriorated” houses being offered for rent in the region, including potential “death traps” rented directly from private owners.
Some dwellings reportedly lacked heating and hot water.
This is despite landlords being legally required to meet minimum standards, such as to install smoke alarms, ensure two-year heating service checks and undergo urgent repairs.
Since the tragedy, Star Journal has received alerts from readers of several dangerous homes.
One told of an emergency accommodation with a leaking roof, unreliable hot water, unrepaired broken window and a 40-year-old heater – “no glass in the front, only one burner works and throws flames out, so of course it is never used”.
Asylum Seeker Resource Centre services and advocacy director Anastasia Magriplis said the lack of affordable housing was “diabolical”.
It caused “unscrupulous” owners to offer sub-standard housing that “shouldn’t be on the market”.
“Even when you’re working it’s incredibly difficult to have suitable housing, let alone if you’re on welfare.
“For people seeking asylum who don’t have access to the welfare system – and in some cases don’t have work rights – they have very few options.”
The State Government’s 9300 new social housing homes in four years would “take time” to rectify the situation, Ms Magriplis said.
She called for asylum seekers to have access to the “mainstream” social housing program as well as support such as rental bond loans.
Wayss chief executive Liz Thomas recently said asylum seekers confront issues that are “all too common” for people on very low incomes looking for “safe, secure housing” in the South East.
“The real problem is lack of affordable, suitable housing options, especially multi-bedroom homes for larger families.
“There is also very little emergency accommodation for families.”
In the 2016 ABS census, more than 2100 people were homeless in Greater Dandenong.
Greater Dandenong Council – with a coalition of 12 other councils – has been calling for more social housing to combat rising homelessness.
Mayor Angela Long said Covid-19 had “complicated the situation”.
In its snapshot report, Anglicare Victoria stated an “overheated” rental access was drifting further away from low-income households even in rural and regional Victoria.
The recent $25 rise in Commonwealth fortnightly income support was insufficient, it stated.
The report also called for federal affordable-housing intervention, and more options for people fleeing family violence.
