Campaigners for united community action to fix the Sunshine Coast’s housing and rental crisis, have revealed shocking details of the lengths that predators may go to take advantage of vulnerable youths desperate for a roof over their heads.
Paul Morton, of Integrated Family Youth Service (IFYS), recently revealed he was seeing “a scary number of youth risking their safety and enduring physical and mental abuse just to be able to have a bed to sleep in”.
“The average young person that we work with has usually come out of a crisis and is disengaged from family so, when you compound that with rents of $500 and $600 a week in a hot property market, young people aren’t going to be high on the list for approval of a property,” Mr Morton said.
Read a related story: ‘All Sunshine Coast under rental stress,’ says Rental Affordability Index
“People are turning to couch surfing or sleeping in tents on properties and, sadly, the horrible and insidious side of this is that these people will often end up in unhealthy relationships where they are having to do all kinds of things to survive, to get a feed in their belly, or for accommodation for the night. It’s survival at best.”
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Mr Morton made the startling comments during an interview on the Homes For Everyone podcast, hosted by businessman and housing campaigner Mal Cayley.
Mr Cayley, of Direct Collective, said he was angry towards the decision-makers because of what it’s doing to the community.
“There are people who are approving and not approving accommodation on the Sunshine Coast with almost some self-righteousness around the reasoning (for not approving appropriate accommodation) and yet, there are people on our street selling themselves for sex just to get a home,” he explained
“We have absolutely failed them as a community.”
“We have undersupplied the market, on the Sunshine Coast particularly, for more than a
decade. If we act dramatically today to increase supply at all levels of government, it’s going to take two to three years before we see an improvement.
“(Homelessness) is now no longer about vagrancy or drug abuse. If you’re a doctor and you are renting on the Sunshine Coast and your house is sold to an owner occupier, you are at risk of homelessness because there’s nothing else available for you to go into.
Read a related story: Housing crisis: Coast speech therapist to buy home to help secure staff for her business
“We have grandparents living in large four-bedroom homes who have nowhere to downsize into so young families, or a group of people like those coming out of IFYS programs, can’t get into them. Our community is held at ransom because we just don’t have enough (properties).”
Mr Cayley said the solution required a concerted united approach, to include the likes of APRA, federal government, state government, council, community attitudes, planning, taxes and policies.
“If we don’t solve this problem by the start of the Olympics, we’ve just started the whole thing again,” he said.
Mr Cayley is urging community members to “spend 15 seconds” to sign up to help raise public awareness of the housing crisis.
To sign up to the Homes for Everyone supporters list, click here.
“We need strength in numbers to show the politicians and decision-makers that we want to end homelessness and the rental crisis. It affects all of us,” Mr Cayley said.
The Homes For Everyone podcast highlights the dire state of the Sunshine Coast housing
market and the unexpected stories of heartbreak from the current crisis.
Listen to the Homes for Everyone podcast on Spotify, iHeartRadio, Listnr or visit Homes for Everyone podcasts.
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