Australia’s rental nightmare is being highlighted by an incident in which a woman was crushed by a collapsing roof while she slept.
Melissa Ware, 49, from New Zealand, was visiting her sister on the Gold Coast when she woke in the middle of the night to find herself pinned to the bed by debris.
She suffered head, neck, and back injuries that required medication and physiotherapy.
Her sister says the incident could have been prevented if the landlord had signed off on much-needed repairs on the property.
Ms Ware’s sister had contacted the rental property manager eight months earlier to report the sagging ceiling in that bedroom, but no action had been taken.
The incident underscores the dire issues faced by renters in Australia amid the housing crisis. In Perth, a single mother and her three children are living in a car because of the rental crisis.
Kristin applied for emergency housing but was told there was a three-year waiting list.
She feels like a mother who has failed her children because she cannot provide them with a roof over their heads.
The rental crisis is affecting people of all ages and incomes. Sydney woman Milly Bannister, 26, fears she won’t be able to pay her bills after her rent increased by 35 per cent.
Leo Patterson Ross, CEO of the Tenants’ Union of NSW, compared looking for a place to rent to a “competitive bloodsport.”
Vacancy rates across Australia are at an all-time low, and in Sydney and Melbourne, only 1% of rental properties are available to rent.
Brisbane’s vacancy rate sits at 0.8%, while it’s half that in Hobart, and in Perth and Adelaide, it’s worse, with just 0.3% available.
The problem is spreading to the regions too, where rental availability has fallen to 0.8%.
The situation is driving people to sleep in unsafe and unsuitable places. The incident with Ms Ware shows what can happen if tenants’ concerns are neglected.
The housing crisis in Australia is a serious issue that requires urgent attention.
»Collapsing roof crushes Woman while she slept«
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