No suitable rental properties are affordable across the Bay region for a single parent earning a minimum wage, according to Anglicare’s annual Rental Affordability Snapshot.

The snapshot surveyed 137 properties advertised for rent in Batemans Bay and surrounding areas including Moruya and Narooma on April 1 in terms of affordability (up to 30 per cent of disposable income) and appropriateness to accommodate the required number of people.

The survey found no affordable and suitable properties for a family or single person living on Newstart, young people on Youth Allowance and single parents receiving a Parenting Payment.

Anglicare’s Coordinator of Homelessness Services in Moruya, Anne McAsh, said the undersupply of affordable rentals in the Eurobodalla was concerning.

“There is a critical, growing need for affordable housing in this community,” she said.

“Through our services we see the need first-hand and it’s heartbreaking.

“Affordable and suitable housing is a human right.

“Single parents paying over 30 percent of their income on housing are forced to make financial sacrifices elsewhere, sometimes jeopardising their quality of life,” Ms McAsh said.

“It can even mean choosing to go without food in order to pay bills.   

“A lack of affordable housing means homelessness or adverse living conditions that can have a significant affect on a person’s well-being.”

For Nicole, a single mother of four from Moruya, the findings are not a surprise. “Circumstances meant my children and I had to leave our home with virtually nothing. There was no available crisis housing at the time so we ended up staying in a caravan with my aunt.”

“If you’re not settled, then your children can’t be settled.

“They need a safe place to go at the end of the day,” says Nicole.

Comparing 2015 data to 2016, there was an increase in the number of properties for rent but a decrease in affordability for people on income support.

Ms McAsh fears the number of people living in crisis and poverty in the region will continue to rise if the issue is not addressed.

“There is an urgent need for funding to allow for more affordable housing in Australia,” she said.