A local resident is demanding the government do more to support low-income pensioners as an affordable housing scheme wraps up.
Melville Toms has lived in a National Rental Affordability Scheme (NRAS) property in Kingswood for the past three years and is among tens of thousands of Australians to benefit from the scheme.
Originally set up in 2008 by the Rudd Government, the scheme is now “winding down” and will officially end in 2026.
The scheme worked by paying property owners, developers and Community Housing Providers a financial incentive to rent homes for a rate less than 20 per cent below market value for a period of 10 years.
Homes have been leaving this scheme since 2018 with the last of the homes under the scheme to leave in 2026.
Toms received a letter on Christmas Eve alerting him that the property he was living in was being removed from the NRAS scheme this month and as a result his rent was being increased to $660 a fortnight.
“It was a bit of a shock that just upset us all. Our rent is now $330 a week, or $660 a fortnight which is three quarters of our pension,” he said.
“It was a shock not just for us here but also for all low-income pensioners that are renting because they have no other option. There’s no public housing available.”
Many NRAS properties are managed by Community Housing Providers, which means their rent will stay below market value when the scheme ends but for people like Toms whose property is privately owned their rent will be dictated by the owner.
“Many people are living the best they can under the circumstances, and they have to pay lots of things out. I’m not left with much after I pay the funeral fund, the rent, all medical expenses, transport costs and groceries,” Toms said.
“It’s impossible, you are not left with anything at all, and the thing is the government has got to move along and change the legislation where people with disabilities, old age or low income are exempt from market value increases in rental properties.
“There is no benefit to us renters, all the benefit goes to the owner. If the owner sells this property, all the market rent we pay, we get nothing, they get the full benefit. That’s where it is totally wrong.”
Adding to the concern, data from the last Census in 2021 revealed that 11.4 per cent of Penrith’s population live in low-income households with incomes of $500 or less per week.
Anglicare’s 2024 Rental Affordability Snapshot also found that out of over 45,000 rental listings in Australia only 89 or 0.2 per cent were affordable for a person on the Age Pension and even less were affordable for a person on the Disability Support Pension.
“Of the 89 listings that were affordable for a single person on the Age Pension… 58 (65.2 per cent) were a room in a share house,” the report said.
“This situation is entirely avoidable.
“While housing costs have risen faster than wages for decades, they’ve risen even faster than social security payments.
“Current rates of income support are so low they trap people in poverty… There has been little to no action by governments to ensure that social security payments have kept pace with the cost-of-living, let alone housing costs.”
According to the Community Housing Association NSW, when the NRAS scheme finishes in 2026 over 2000 privately owned homes will exit the affordable housing system with no indication from the Federal Government to replace the scheme.
The Weekender reached out to Federal Minister for Housing Clare O’Neil for comment but did not receive a response before publication.
Scott Farlow, Shadow Minister for Housing, called on the State Government to assist.
“NSW deserves better than the Minns Labor Government, who slap double digit rent increases on social housing tenants struggling to get by in the middle of Anthony Albanese and Labor’s cost-of-living crisis,” he said.
“This is all while the NSW Housing Minister believes that a reasonable rent for two-bedroom apartment in Sydney is ‘a couple of hundred bucks’.”
Emily Chate
Emily Chate joined The Western Weekender in 2024, and covers local news - primarily courts and politics. A graduate of the University of Wollongong, Emily has contributed to The Daily Telegraph and worked as a freelance journalist.