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Media Release Wednesday 30 April 2014

The housing crisis is getting worse as new research shows there are no affordable rental options for struggling Canberra families. The Anglicare Rental Affordability Snapshot which reviews thousands of properties in Canberra and Queanbeyan paints a dire picture, Shadow Minister for Housing Nicole Lawder said today.

“The ACT Labor government needs to make housing affordability a priority for Canberrans because the situation is fast getting out of control. The government is not taking the necessary steps to address these issues,” Ms Lawder said.

“The report reviewed 3371 properties and illustrates that the housing crisis is worse than we first thought. There are no affordable rental options while 50 percent of the available shared houses aren’t even considered affordable.

“The National Rental Affordability Scheme sets affordable rental to be at 75 percent of market rent, but as it stands this isn’t even considered affordable in the ACT with the highest private sector rents in the country.

“We won’t be able to reduce the rate of people experiencing homelessness in the ACT, which is one of the highest in the nation, until the issue of affordable housing is addressed. The ACT Labor government needs to do more than tinker at the edges of the issue,” Ms Lawder concluded.

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Contact: Joe Prevedello 0402768432

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