Affordable Housing report released by Australian experts

We're still up shit creek with our rent. What's more we well and truly don't qualify to get on the urgent Housing list because David gets more money with the Carers Allowance than with Newstart, so we've pretty well given up. 

All we got from the Dept of Housing was robot bureaucrats reciting Housing policy. According to them paying 50% of our meager income in rent is "affordable" FFS. How fuckin stupid. So we're stuck having to wait I dunno how many years before something comes up.

Now a group of experts have released research and recommendations to bring the private rental market more in line with the reality of people who retire (or who are sick like me) trying to survive in that market on gov benefits. 

One particular thing was to increase the Centrelink rent assistance. At the moment it's only a maximum of $60 a week, pathetic.

Australia’s home ownership levels are declining. The proportion of households who own outright is now smaller than the proportion who have a mortgage, and is continuing to diminish. This is a significant problem for a country whose retirement income system is based on outright home ownership in retirement. 

House prices continue to rise nationally. They are rising faster in our two major cities (Sydney and Melbourne) which, between them, house 40% of the population. Average Australian house prices are approximately 4 - 5 times the average annual household earnings. 

Nationally, four in five private rental households in the lowest 20% of incomes are in unaffordable housing situations (paying more than 30% of income in rent). Additionally, more than 30% of the second lowest quintile is also experiencing housing stress. 

Australia has a shortfall of housing supply, estimated by the most recent reputable assessment as over 500,000 rental dwellings which are both affordable and available to the lowest income households. 

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• The maximum rate of CRA should be increased by 30% in the 2015 - 16 Budget;  
• A review of rental subsidies in private and public rental housing should be conducted. This should include an expert review of CRA indexation with recommendations to ensure the future adequacy of the payment in the context of rising housing costs. 
• To ensure the future adequacy of CRA, the 3 yearly independent review of pension adequacy should have scope to regularly review the adequacy and indexation of all payments, including CRA; and 
• Social housing rent setting should continue to ensure that households a re not left in after - housing poverty. the report