By Tanya Faulkner
As the housing crisis intensifies in the current cost of living situation, the Knox municipality is feeling the pressure.
Several families have been made homeless, or are struggling to make ends meet as prices keep rising across the country.
Not only is it the prices but the lack of rental properties that are forcing people to find alternative accommodation.
Ray White Ferntree Gully head of property management Jenny Bolch said on average, they receive around 11 applications per rental property listed through them.
“In the last quarter we received just over 1700 rental applications, and leased 163 properties,” she said.
Renee Feehan, a local to Knox, recently endured her 35th birthday on the same day she became functionally homeless, with her lease ending before she was able to find a new home for her family.
Ms Feehan told Herald Sun that her partner and their two daughters are now living in a friend’s home while they try to find their next place to live, despite relentlessly applying for a new rental for the past 60 days after receiving notice to vacate in May.
The family have submitted more than 60 applications to rentals in the area, all of which were rejected.
Her family are still looking for a three-bedroom home in the Ferntree Gully or Boronia area with a budget of $550 per week.
Ms Feehan is one of several locals who have been hit with the increased cost of living and current housing crisis.
Single dad Max Zaid caught wind earlier this year that his landlord was planning to significantly raise the rent at his Ferntree Gully home at the end of his lease.
Thinking he was getting on the front foot by looking for other options, Mr Zaid made hundreds of unsuccessful applications, some he said were declined in “almost minutes” mostly due to his single dad status.
He came across at least 40 others in the Knox municipality all looking for new homes in the Ferntree Gully area.
Mr Zaid was finally successful, finding a property in Bendigo for him and his teenage son.
Ms Bolch said her best advice to locals seeking a rental property is to be sure to physically view the property in person and submit their completed application and additional documents as soon as possible, to reduce delays.
“Landlords are given their choice of applications with the numbers we’re receiving at the moment,” she said.
“They’re mainly prioritising the positive check boxes when choosing tenants – making sure they have stable employment, stable rental history and payments were made on time,” she said.
Ms Bolch sympathised with those looking for rentals at the moment, saying rent prices have increased at a rate we haven’t seen in some time, making affordability much more difficult, especially with the added costs of living increasing.
Her advice is to be quick, consistent, and thorough with applications.
“It’s best to be consistent, get to inspections and submit applications with as much as they can, with all of the required information and cover letters at the time of application,” she said.
It’s not just availability of properties that renters must overcome in today’s market.
New quarterly data released by CoreLogic and Domain show rental prices are continuing to increase across the country.
Everybody’s Home spokesperson Maiy Azize said there’s only so much people can stretch their budgets.
“No matter what data you look at, rents are climbing across Australia and remain stubbornly high.
“More and more renters are hurting and reaching an affordability cliff,” she said.
Many locals are having to cut back on meals and groceries, medicines and healthcare, and heating, or turning on lights are becoming terrifying realities for many tenants as they try to keep up with eye watering rents.
Ms Azize said this is becoming the worst housing crisis in living memory, and is stopping people from pursuing their life dreams like starting a family.
“We can’t accept more people making unhealthy sacrifices to make the rent, and we can’t accept escalating rents becoming the norm.
“Each time a quarterly snapshot or report is published, it’s expected that we’ll see rents go up.
“National rents are more than 27 per cent higher since the onset of Covid-19,” she said.
Since the announcement that the Commonwealth Games will not be going ahead in 2026, the Andrews Labour government has promised more social housing for those regions
The Community Housing Industry Association Victoria said the government’s $1 billion Regional Housing Fund will provide a much needed boost to social and affordable housing in the regions, and improve the lives of thousands of Victorians.
The government is also making strides in its $63 million Big Housing Build, one of the biggest projects in Victoria’s history bringing more social and affordable homes to those who need it most.
While this mostly benefits the wider Victorian regional areas outside of Knox, the new homes are expected to free up rentals across the state and help relieve the current crisis being experienced by our Hills community.
