Hunter rental affordability crisis looms for residents with no cash to splash

With her only source of income, the 20 year-old from Thornton, helps to support her three sisters alongside her single mother's income.

"In terms of finances and stuff it's basically just me and mum right now," she said.

Rent for their four-bedroom home is currently costing $500 per week followed by the cost of utility bills, groceries and petrol.

"Every month I have to make sure our energy bill is paid which is around $90, the water bill also gets pretty large maybe $700 - we're just falling behind a lot," Miss Fahey said.

"There's never any money left."

Miss Fahey's situation reflects the findings of the Hunter's alarming housing situation in Anglicare's 2023 Rental Affordability report, after no affordable rentals were found in the region for people on various welfare allowances.

The report found no rentals were affordable for a couple with two children on JobSeeker, a single parent with two children on the Parenting Payment Single, a single parent with one child on JobSeeker or Parenting Payment Single.

There were also not any listings affordable for a single over 18 on youth allowance and no share house rentals were affordable for a single on youth allowance. The benchmark for affordability is considered to be no more than 30 percent of a household budget.

The rental affordability crisis is taking a severe toll on Miss Fahey's family who are now faced with finding somewhere new to live after being evicted.

"We are being evicted due to the sale of the house which we've known since November, and we've been given a few extensions because we've applied and been rejected from about 60 properties since January," Miss Fahey said.

She said her family situation and not having two stable sources of income has impacted their ability to find housing.

"It's definitely, completely about money because even at this house now we're still trying to catch up on bills," she said.

The other challenge is finding somewhere big enough for five people and pets.

"Trying to find a place big enough to fit all of us in is pretty hard, especially since the price is higher and a lot of properties don't consider pets and I've got two dogs," she said.

Research commissioned by NSW Council of Social Service found the housing crisis is a key driver of poverty in regional areas, with young people aged between 15 and 24 and older people aged 65 and over, seeing the biggest average increases in the last five years.

The Newcastle and Cooks Hill area has one of the highest overall poverty rates sitting at 25.1 per cent, doubling since 2016. The poverty rates for private renters has tripled since 2016 now sitting at 35.6 per cent.

Miss Fahey said she has tried applying for jobs to help ease the financial burden on her family but has found it difficult due to suffering from anxiety.

"I've been trying to secure a job with a cleaning company and I've been going to places that can help me, like transition to work programs but I've struggled," she said.

She said as a young person faced with the rental affordability crisis, she wanted to see more support available for families.

"The rent is just too high, it's hard enough to pay it alone but then we've got all the other bills.

"As a young person it does suck because I don't get to do what my friends can do. I can't go shopping, go on holidays ... I can't do anything like that," she said.

Miss Fahey said her family have considered going down the path of social housing but were concerned about long wait list times.

Home in Place Newcastle executive manger of business and public affairs, Martin Kennedy said there had been a 30 per cent increase in waiting lists in the space of 12 months.

"The wait depends on a few things, one of which is the type of property that they're looking for in the specific area they're looking in, but it's not uncommon for people to be waiting several years," he said.

There are currently 1800 households on the waiting list in the Newcastle area alone, with 700 in Lake Macquarie, 816 in Maitland and 350 in Cessnock.

Mr Kennedy said properties were allocated based on the level of need, with high priority people getting in the door within a matter of months.

"People who are lower needs are still eligible, but realistically are very, very unlikely to ever see the inside of social housing properties because there isn't enough and they get rationed so severely," he said.

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