A Ministry of Housing property sold privately because it required a lot of work and money to bring it up to standard. The gas meter had been removed, as the property was sold as uninhabitable. The new owner rented it out in that condition. The middle aged man who rented it had no hot water, no heating and no cooking. He was paying most of his Centrelink benefit to live in this place, leaving him little to live on. He accessed the local swimming pool for free showers, aid agencies for food, a hot drink and a place to sit and warm up. He was found dead in his house during the cold winter. He was 52…
There has been much discussion recently about the lack of rental properties available and the increasing number of people who are becoming homeless. Another equally serious concern is at last being recognised: that of property owners exploiting low income tenants who live in squalid conditions in substandard housing.
A single mother with five children lives with bare floorboards and paint peeling from walls where rain from the leaking roof separates paint from plaster. A large hole in the bathroom ceiling has never been repaired since a gas hot water boiler previously vented there was removed. Walls in the home are black from mould in spite of continuous washing with bleach. The refrigerator is in the lounge because the kitchen power point has water leaking on it, again from the roof. The pantry cupboard is alive with small brown cockroaches where the walls are damp. This mother keeps the place neat, clean and tidy insofar as is possible. The real estate agent has taken many photos of these issues during periodic inspections, but nothing has been done.
A disabled woman is without a functioning toilet for four days in spite of repeatedly contacting her real estate agent.
A now older lady has rented the same small, one bedroom property for twenty five years. It has never been painted, never had new carpet, the back door doesn’t close properly and the only heating is a small fan heater fitted to one wall. There is no cooling. Her rent has just gone up $50 a week.
A single middle aged woman has never been able to lock her back door. She asked for repairs but they have not been done. She leaves furniture behind the door for security.
Two men were living in a “boarding house”, four men to a room, at a premium, because they were homeless and finally found this as a way to get off the winter streets. The conditions, according to their case worker, were shocking.
A Ministry of Housing property sold privately because it required a lot of work and money to bring it up to standard. The gas metre had been removed, as the property was sold as uninhabitable. The new owner rented it out in that condition. The middle aged man who rented it had no hot water, no heating and no cooking. He was paying most of his Centrelink benefit to live in this place, leaving him little to live on. He accessed the local swimming pool for free showers, aid agencies for food, a hot drink and a place to sit and warm up. He was found dead in his house during the cold winter. He was 52.
I constantly hear that: landlords have no rights; it costs money to upkeep properties; and tenants don’t look after the properties they rent. Some of these claims are true. It has been said by landlords that they are doing a community service by providing homes for people on lower incomes. In my role I am yet to meet a landlord whose primary aim was to serve the community, but I acknowledge there may be some such landlords. In my experience, the primary aim of investment property is to make money.
There is a legal obligation on, and financial benefit to a landlord to maintain the integrity of a rental property. The investment value of the property grows exponentially the longer the property is owned. The responsibility is on the owner to ensure that the property they are leasing is habitable. Rent should not simply be viewed as an easy way to pay off the mortgage, but rather as the seal of a two way contract.
I have seen firsthand the conditions that people living on low incomes or Centrelink benefits have to endure. Yes, tenants have rights and there are minimal standards required for rental properties. But in my experience tenants are so fearful of being evicted that they are willing to put up with appalling conditions in order to have a roof over both their and their children’s heads. Invariably they are reluctant to complain. They make a request known and if nothing is done, they will often put up with it. Why? Simply put, they are scared (and indeed sometimes informed) that the rent will go up if things have to be repaired or replaced. They are scared of being evicted if they complain and they know that there is nowhere else for them to go which may be why both the real estate agents and the landlords feel no compulsion to act. These tenants are already in the cheapest properties they can find. They can’t afford to live anywhere else, even if there was anything else available, which is increasingly unlikely. So they are at the mercy of those who should be accountable. And often, there is very little mercy to be seen. It goes without saying that people renting in these circumstances are also at risk of mental health issues as a direct result.
The concern about housing is not just the shortage, but also the condition of properties available to those on low incomes. This is further compounded by the failure of those responsible to diligently carry out their duties. The first line of accountability has to be the real estate agents making the periodic inspections. They know and document the issues. They have an obligation to act. But very often, in fact more often than not, they don’t. The second is the landlords, who may be told of the conditions, but refuse to spend money on repairs. Providing training for landlords and real estate agents is no guarantee of compliance. There should be instant and costly consequences for breaches of standards with guaranteed protection of tenants and their leases. These can be authorised by independent government inspectors referring real estate agents and landlords who breach the laws for prosecution. The fines issued should be significantly more than the cost that would have been incurred by maintaining the property adequately.
Anne Irwin
Anne Irwin is a volunteer Community Chaplain in Geelong in Victoria. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Dementia Care and a diploma of Chaplaincy. Her voluntary work brings her into contact with current and former prisoners and provides reliable anecdotal and experiential influences to recognise the need for change in our prisons.