Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Katie Woolf spoke with Somerville Community Services CEO Lawson Broad about the rental market in the NT

Transcript

Katie Woolf spoke with Somerville Community Services CEO Lawson Broad about the rental market in the NT · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: There is an issue which has been bubbling along for
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: some time, and that is housing. Now. Earlier in the week,
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: we learned that some Southerners and even some international purchases
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: are snapping up homes in the Northern Territory. But we
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: also know that the rental market is very tight. So
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: what kind of impact does that have? More broadly, when
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  Speaker 1: you look at what is available to those facing housing stress. Well,
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  Speaker 1: joining me in the studio is the CEO of Somerville
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  Speaker 1: Community Services, lawsome Broad.
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  Speaker 2: Good morning to you.
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  Speaker 3: Good morning, Katie, good to see you. Thanks for having me.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, great to have you in the studio now, Lawson,
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  Speaker 1: I know that Somerville does have programs which provide support
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  Speaker 1: for families and also individuals who are maybe experiencing homelessness
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  Speaker 1: or who are at risk of homelessness. How are we
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: going in the Northern Territory at the moment when you
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  Speaker 1: talk about housing and people being able to access it, Well, what.
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  Speaker 3: We know absolutely, Katie, is that for many families, many
• 0:54
  Speaker 3: households across the Northern Territory, their budgets are being crippled
• 0:59
  Speaker 3: by the cost of how So the stats tell us
• 1:02
  Speaker 3: that story, renters tell us that story. What we know
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  Speaker 3: is that current vacancy rates sit well below two percent
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  Speaker 3: in real terms. What that tells us is that on
• 1:11
  Speaker 3: any day of the week, there are more people looking
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  Speaker 3: for houses than there are houses on the market. That's unsustainable,
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  Speaker 3: that's basic supply and demand, and what that means is
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  Speaker 3: that the cost of housing goes up. Unfortunately, we are
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  Speaker 3: seeing in small pockets, and they are small pockets. This
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  Speaker 3: is not across the board, but we are seeing small
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  Speaker 3: pockets of landlords who are frankly extortionate and profit hearing
• 1:34
  Speaker 3: you would have seen it, you would have heard it.
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  Speaker 3: I've certainly seen it and heard it where rents are
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  Speaker 3: being ratcheted up one hundred dollars two hundred dollars a week.
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  Speaker 3: That is crippling household budgets.
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  Speaker 2: You know, what kind of thing are you hearing?
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  Speaker 1: Sort of on the front line, because I know that
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  Speaker 1: some of them, obviously there would be people coming to
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  Speaker 1: you who are in rental stress, but are also in
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  Speaker 1: stress more generally, who are doing it tough, and COVID
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: has exast spiraated that. I would imagine what are you hearing,
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: you know, in your offices each and every day from
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  Speaker 1: people coming in to seek support from Somerville, because I
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  Speaker 1: would imagine it's you know, it's not, it's it's very
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: often I'm assuming everyday Territorians who have not been in
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: this situation before.
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  Speaker 3: We're talking about working families, we're talking about working couples.
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  Speaker 3: So the types of stories we're seeing is we're hearing
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  Speaker 3: about couples who used to be able to live on
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  Speaker 3: their own in their own house having to move in
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  Speaker 3: with other couples. That puts a lot of strain on relationships.
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  Speaker 3: We are seeing relationship breakdowns, We are seeing budgets fall apart,
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  Speaker 3: and people who wouldn't ordinarily need extra assistance coming to
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  Speaker 3: us to make ends meet.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, that is I mean, it's it's hard to hear.
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  Speaker 1: I know, even here at MIX, we've had people call
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  Speaker 1: through who said that they are really they really struggled
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  Speaker 1: to find rental properties, they're really struggling to get into homes.
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  Speaker 1: But I think the other part of it as well
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  Speaker 1: is it's not just like there's not just people struggling
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  Speaker 1: to get into the rental market or into the housing market,
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  Speaker 1: but there is also obviously your public housing. The demand
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  Speaker 1: on public housing is high. But then when you talk
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  Speaker 1: about affordable housing and that's something that you actually wrote
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  Speaker 1: about on the weekend in the Sunday Territorium.
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  Speaker 2: Where are we ash with this.
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  Speaker 3: Great question, Katie? So you're right, the housing market is big.
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  Speaker 3: There's private rentals, there's public housing at the other end,
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  Speaker 3: there's transitional accommodation in the middle. But one important piece
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  Speaker 3: of that puzzle is affordable housing and community housing. So,
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  Speaker 3: in simple terms, what that is, I want to make
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  Speaker 3: clear upfront. Community housing is not public housing. The way
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  Speaker 3: that community housing is established is essentially a state or
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  Speaker 3: territory government transitions bulk stock from its own reserves to
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  Speaker 3: a community housing provide. Now, what that community housing provider
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  Speaker 3: does is that they are then able to rent that
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  Speaker 3: accommodation to people that meet certain thresholds at below market rents.
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  Speaker 3: This is it's no silver bullet, but it is definitely
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  Speaker 3: an important piece of solving that housing affordability question. So
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  Speaker 3: there's a couple of advantages there. One of those is
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  Speaker 3: that there is extra revenue available to help subsidize that accommodation.
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  Speaker 3: So that's called commonwealth rent assistance. The way it works
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  Speaker 3: is essentially, if you meet certain criteria, you get additional
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  Speaker 3: money to help cover the cost of rent. So as
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  Speaker 3: an example, if you are a couple with one or
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  Speaker 3: two children, you meet the various thresholds to if you
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  Speaker 3: are paying four hundred and fifty bucks a week for rent,
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  Speaker 3: you get one hundred and sixty five dollars a week
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  Speaker 3: tax free that goes directly to to your rent. That
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  Speaker 3: makes an enormous difference to that family budget.
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  Speaker 2: Life changing. I would say for some people, and you.
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  Speaker 1: Know where you're talking, you're actually talking about helping people
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  Speaker 1: to you know, to stay in a home to avoid
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  Speaker 1: then needing to try and get into the public housing
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  Speaker 1: system or leaving the Northern Terriory.
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  Speaker 3: It keeps relationships together, it keeps people here, because we
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  Speaker 3: do see people leaving the Northern Territory. We do see
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  Speaker 3: people ending up in caravan parks because they can't get
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  Speaker 3: into the private rental market.
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  Speaker 1: Awson, how tough would you say? Well, at what point
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  Speaker 1: do you think we're in in the Northern Territory at
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  Speaker 1: the moment when you talk about the number of people
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  Speaker 1: who would like to be able to access something like
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  Speaker 1: that affordable or community housing.
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  Speaker 3: I would say that we are For many, they are
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  Speaker 3: at crisis point. They are desperate for a solution, right
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  Speaker 3: now there's a lot of work on a bit, there's
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  Speaker 3: a bit of money flowing in the economy. This doesn't
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  Speaker 3: affect everyone, but for some families this is absolute a
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  Speaker 3: crisis point. But what this means is that even though
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  Speaker 3: housing might be affordable for many, the cost of housing
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  Speaker 3: is going up. That has a broader impact on the
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  Speaker 3: economy because if we are seeing a lot of interstate
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  Speaker 3: buyers here, that means money leaving the territory not staying here.
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  Speaker 3: That means money leaving the territory, not being spent on
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  Speaker 3: local contractors, not being spent in local shops.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, that's exactly right, and that's the last thing that
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  Speaker 1: we want happening. And we know that, you know, in
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  Speaker 1: different ways. I suppose the population sort of changed a
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  Speaker 1: little bit as a result of COVID, But if there
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  Speaker 1: isn't places for people to live, you know, even when
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  Speaker 1: you talk about workforces coming across to the territory, if
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  Speaker 1: we don't have enough homes for rent, homes for sale,
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  Speaker 1: and then when you go to you know, to the
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  Speaker 1: community housing level and the affordable housing level, it is
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  Speaker 1: it's a difficult situation that many people are finding themselves in.
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  Speaker 3: Really challenging, really challenging, and I guess there's limited leavers
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  Speaker 3: to be able to affect that. But one of those
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  Speaker 3: is establishing our community housing sector, and we know that
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  Speaker 3: this government made a commitment, a significant commitment to bring
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  Speaker 3: that to life in twenty sixteen. So that was to
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  Speaker 3: transfer seven hundred and fifty dwellings out of its own
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  Speaker 3: stock to community housing providers. They were praised for that
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  Speaker 3: at the time. It was a good commitment that should
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  Speaker 3: be supported. Unfortunately, governments politicians on their own can't bring
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  Speaker 3: a commitment like that to life. So a willing government
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  Speaker 3: has made that commitment. At the other end, we see
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  Speaker 3: struggling renters and we have willing providers to be able
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  Speaker 3: to bring that to life. In the middle, we have
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  Speaker 3: the public service. In the middle, we have government departments.
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  Speaker 3: They are the arms and legs of our politicians. Our
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  Speaker 3: politicians rely on those people to bring those commitments to life. Unfortunately,
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  Speaker 3: that commitment that got a lot of praise at the
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  Speaker 3: time hasn't got any legs, not in one year, not
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  Speaker 3: in two years, hasn't got any legs in five years.
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  Speaker 2: Lawson, you sound pretty exasperated by it.
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  Speaker 1: I'm assuming you would be because you are like you're
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  Speaker 1: at the front line speaking to people who are really
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  Speaker 1: struggling right now.
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  Speaker 3: It's I and it's not just me. Across the sector
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  Speaker 3: are at the point of acute frustration because we do
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  Speaker 3: see it, and we do see it firsthand, and they're
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  Speaker 3: painful stories that we're seeing. And I guess it gets
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  Speaker 3: to the point where you can do a lot of
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  Speaker 3: work behind the scenes, you can have a lot of
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  Speaker 3: you can have a lot of meetings, but it gets
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  Speaker 3: to the point where, honestly, after five years, that's not
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  Speaker 3: good enough.
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  Speaker 1: What's your message really for the government today or you know,
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  Speaker 1: for well, yeah, for the government when it comes to
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  Speaker 1: this housing situation that.
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  Speaker 2: A lot of a lot of Territorians are in right.
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  Speaker 3: Now, the message is to act. So what we're seeing
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  Speaker 3: unfortunate and there is a place for there is a
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  Speaker 3: place for strategies doing this. This is a big deal.
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  Speaker 3: It's a big move for government. Doing this carefully and
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  Speaker 3: getting it right should be the approach that we take.
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  Speaker 3: But let me read just a couple of lines for
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  Speaker 3: you here. So in twenty sixteen in the Department of
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  Speaker 3: Housings and Your Report, it wrote the Department commenced the
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  Speaker 3: development of a community housing strategy good thing. The strategy
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  Speaker 3: will guide how the Department will work to create opportunities
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  Speaker 3: to create the community housing sector and transfer initially up
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  Speaker 3: to seven hundred and fifty dwellings to community housing providers
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  Speaker 3: in urban areas. Into a meeting earlier in the week
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  Speaker 3: with the departments Housing Reform Agenda Meeting and let me
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  Speaker 3: read from you from paper from that meeting. The next
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  Speaker 3: step in the development of the strategy is to engage
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  Speaker 3: a suitably qualified consultancy firm with a high level of
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  Speaker 3: expertise and understanding of the community housing sector to undertake
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  Speaker 3: economic analysis to inform the structure of the future of
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  Speaker 3: future transfer models.
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  Speaker 1: How is that where they're at right now, Lawson after
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  Speaker 1: twenty sixteen, that being in the annual report and then
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  Speaker 1: all these years later.
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  Speaker 3: How is how is that the next step? That's that's
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  Speaker 3: the question. So that's why, that's why to me, the
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  Speaker 3: message right now is something is better than nothing. Anything
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  Speaker 3: is better than nothing. Sure, we need a strategy, but
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  Speaker 3: we need action more than we need strategy.
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  Speaker 1: Well, even as we're talking, you know, we've got people
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  Speaker 1: calling through saying that you know, they've had to vacate
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  Speaker 1: their house in Bayview as it was sold, so luckily
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  Speaker 1: they found a new rental that rose from five hundred
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  Speaker 1: to six hundred and ninety five dollars a week. You know,
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  Speaker 1: that's just an example of somebody who can actually hopefully
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  Speaker 1: afford to pay their rent.
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  Speaker 2: You know, but there's a lot of people struggling.
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  Speaker 1: It's not unusual at all, and we're hearing it more
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  Speaker 1: and more in this studio and on the phone lines.
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: People are really finding it difficult to stay in the
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  Speaker 1: Northern Territory based on just being able to find a
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: rental property, but then on the cost, and then when
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: you look at families who are maybe doing it a
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: little bit tougher, there's not that step in between, or
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: there doesn't seem to be that step in between at
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: the moment, which I think is what you're talking about.
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  Speaker 1: That community in affordable housing.
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  Speaker 3: That's exactly what it is, so families can have their
• 11:21
  Speaker 3: own house. When we see families moving in together, when
• 11:25
  Speaker 3: we see overcrowding to that point, that is what leads
• 11:29
  Speaker 3: to relationship tension, That is what leads to unsafe environments,
• 11:33
  Speaker 3: that is what leads to antisocial behavior. There's got to
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  Speaker 3: be a solution here. I mean, I guess I guess
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  Speaker 3: there are occasions when government kind of wants to take
• 11:46
  Speaker 3: credit for every positive thing in the community. But at
• 11:49
  Speaker 3: the end of the day, it's got to get three
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  Speaker 3: things right health, housing and education, and right now housing
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  Speaker 3: is crippling us.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, Lass, and I really appreciate you coming in this morning.
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  Speaker 1: I think it divides people with a bit a bit
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  Speaker 1: for the idea about some of the things that could
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: be happening and should be happening in the community. But
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: this issue of housing, I think it's one that if
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: we don't try to get on top of sooner rather
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: than later, I think it's going to become much bigger
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: over the next couple of years.
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  Speaker 3: Really appreciate your time, Katie, thanks for having us in
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  Speaker 3: and thanks for highlighting this important issue anytime.
• 12:22
  Speaker 2: Thank you very much.
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: Lawson Lawson broad there, who is the CEO of some
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: of ill community services.