Rental Affordability

Ms WORTLEY (Torrens) (14:54): My question is to the Minister for Human Services. How is the Malinauskas Labor government supporting South Australians to access private rental housing?

The Hon. N.F. COOK (Hurtle Vale—Minister for Human Services) (14:54): I thank the member for Torrens for the important question. This morning it was reported that the number of rental homes available for less than $400 per week had dropped dramatically. In March 2020, more than half in Adelaide were below $400 and, by February 2022, just before the election, that number had plummeted to a quarter. Today, it is reported the number is less than 10 per cent. For low-income households, this spells major problems.

People without a home of their own struggle to find one that they can afford. Those who get into a rental find it harder and harder to make ends meet or to save for a deposit to buy a home. The policy settings of the former government meant that a household renting a home for $600 per week would face out-of-pocket costs of $4,800. This included $3,600 for a six-week bond and another $1,200 for rent in advance, and that is before you deal with costs like moving, utility reconnections and new school uniforms for the kids.

For this reason, along with rising interest rates and high property prices, our Labor government has introduced many housing reforms in recent weeks. These include a historic land release, reforming private rental, investing an extra $232.7 million in public housing, targeted home purchase assistance through HomeStart and more social and affordable housing in partnership with the commonwealth. These reforms target the whole market so that we can give help exactly where it is needed, and low-income renters are among those who need help the most.

The Private Rental Assistance Program helps eligible households so they do not have to pay up-front costs like bond and rent in advance out of their own pocket. For a number of years, people could get rapid approval for homes rented at up to $450 a week. If you wanted a more expensive home, you had to go through a manual approval process that wasted valuable time when you were trying to avoid becoming homeless. This process also wasted the valuable time of Housing SA staff.

It even led to ridiculous cases where large families were advised that it may be easier to rent two homes at $450 per week rather than one home at $550 or $600 per week. This was because landlords were not going to wait around to leave a home vacant while an applicant jumped through government hoops to see if they could get help. I am pleased to advise that we have addressed this issue.

Under changes implemented in the past week, low-income households can now get rapid approval for homes rented at up to $600 per week. The asset limit for eligible applicants has also been increased from $5,000 to $62,150, so many more households will have the opportunity to rent more homes. It also means that households who have worked hard to save money for critical expenses do not have to dip in to any savings. It is a major help for households struggling with the cost of living.

In recent years, rising rents and fewer vacancies have seen the number of people accessing the program plummet from more than 30,000 to around 10,000. Our changes will allow many more households to access this critical support. It should be noted this change was actually recommended to the former government by the Housing Trust Board in November 2021, but they failed to act on the recommendation.

As I stated earlier, just before the election the proportion of homes advertised at under $400 per week had halved in the previous year leading up to that decision. Even with this massive warning bell and even with the advice of their own expert board, the previous government failed to act. Labor acknowledges the challenge faced by many in our community, and we are acting to make life easier.