Low-earning essential workers in Western Australia can only afford 1 per cent of available rental properties across the state, according to a new rental report by Anglicare WA.
A property was considered “affordable” if it cost less than 30 per cent of household income.
Of 3,523 rental properties available across WA, only 16 properties were affordable for an early childcare educator or hospitality worker.
While the statistics paint a bleak picture across the state, those in regional areas fared far worse.
In the Kimberley and Pilbara regions, just four homes were considered affordable.
Karratha drug and alcohol support worker Kira Gusterson said she had come close to leaving the region due to the lack of affordable rooms.
Karratha community support worker Kira has lived in four houses in three years. (ABC News: Kimberley Putland)
She said there was a big discrepancy between the occupations that received housing subsidies.
“Any government job is supported, but community services are left behind,” she said.
“What’s the incentive of choosing Karratha or [Port] Hedland, when you can go somewhere where it’s much easier to live?”
Karratha hospitality worker Max Breard has spent three months living in his van while he looks for a rental.
Max Breard says high temperatures in WA’s north mean free camping is not convenient. (ABC News: Kimberley Putland)
“I didn’t expect there to be no houses, nothing,” he said.
“Every camper here is looking for houses, either stay in Karratha and find it, or they go south.”
Only four properties were deemed affordable for essential workers in the Pilbara and Kimberley regions. (ABC News: Andrew Seabourne )
The rental report also found that higher-earning essential workers, like ambulance officers and firefighters, could afford just 2 per cent of all available rentals.
The situation is more dire further south in Bunbury, where of 223 available homes, none were considered affordable for essential workers.
WA Liberal leader Basil Zempilas said housing for essential workers should be fundamental.
“What is the point of having the most prosperous state in the country if we can’t provide the basics for our citizens?” Mr Zempilas said.
“We should have the best hospitals, we should have the best schools, and everybody should be able to afford a home to get into.”
Basil Zempilas criticised the government’s delivery of affordable housing. (ABC News: Courtney Withers)
Impact on towns
Across WA, 510 properties of 3,523 rentals available were considered affordable.
Anglicare WA CEO Mark Glasson said the lack of available rental properties across the state was not only a housing issue, but a productivity issue.
“If essential workers can’t get housing near where they work, it makes their lives much more difficult and it makes it more likely they won’t be able to meet those community needs,” Mr Glasson said.
Mark Glasson says the lack of rentals is a productivity problem. (ABC News: Lauren Smith)
“If those people can’t get housing where they need it, we all pay a price for that, and our communities will suffer.”
He called on the state government to build more social and affordable housing and commit to a social housing target of at least 6 per cent of all WA’s housing.
The government says it is working to build more medium to high density housing. (ABC News: Michelle Stanley)
WA Housing Minister John Carey would not say whether that statistic was realistic, but said there was a range of factors that affected housing supply and construction.
Mr Carey said the government was working to build more medium- to high-density housing, but acknowledged such projects “take time”.
“Even the community housing sector is struggling to get projects off the ground and built,” he said.
