In the ongoing housing affordability crisis, government and non-government parties alike are searching for ways to ease the pressure on tenants. One of the potential solutions is rent control, which would allow for capped rental prices dependent on income.
Rent control dictates that a tenant pay 30% of your income on your housing. City West Housing are a not-for-profit organisation which focuses on providing housing to those who may not be able to afford it without rent control.
City West Housing is doing what they can do to ease the housing crisis by having rent controlled houses. By doing this, it ensures that everyone can pay their rent, whether they earn $22,000 or $75,000. City West Housing was established in 1994 and, since then, have provided 720 homes. Most applications for housing come from those who are earning less money, such as the $22,ooo – $55,000 income bracket.
Residents of the housing complex have their applications reviewed every 6 months, and if they’re found to be earning more than $94,274, they are given 90 days to find alternative housing. City West Housing also reviews if any tenants have lost their job, and if it is found that they have, they’re given a grace period of 3 months to find alternative employment.
Rene McKenzie-Low, community engagement manager for City West Housing, said that without rent control in Sydney, low to mid-income families, nurses, teachers, shift workers and public servants would find it “impossible” to live close to work and maintain employment.
McKenzie-low also said that the niche of City West Housing is to “make sure that people who keep our city running have quality of life.”
One way of making sure that people who reside in their housing blocks have quality of life is ensuring that they are aware of the fact that they have a house for the next six months. This is a sentiment that has been echoed with some of their tenants, who says it gives them ‘peace of mind knowing that they have an ongoing lease’, according to an interview done by the ABC.
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