A Sunshine Coast couple has turned their struggle to secure a rental into action, founding a new organisation aimed at helping young adults access housing.
Amber Barry and Saxon O’Neill, both 21, say they have faced repeated knockbacks in their search for a home, despite having stable, well-paying jobs – Amber as a nurse and Saxon as an electrician.
They were even bluntly told by one Buderim realtor during a rental inspection, “We don’t want people like you”, in reference to their young age.
“We were having a big long conversation with her and she was essentially saying, ‘You’re young, unpredictable, the owners don’t know what you’re going to do with the place’. She wasn’t even tip-toeing around it,” Ms Barry said.
Mr O’Neill said: “Homeowners can put in requests for who they want living in their properties and the agent was saying, ‘It’s families and older couples’ – that’s kind of the baseline for every owner, there’s never an explicit direction to ‘Just accept anyone’.”
The difficult experience prompted Ms Barry to write to local politicians, the Queensland and federal housing ministers, and even the Prime Minister.
Sunshine Coast councillor Joe Natoli responded by introducing the couple to retired builder, workplace educator and housing campaigner Geoff Clarke, who helped them with the recent launch of the Young People Housing Association Inc (YPHA Inc) to campaign for wider recognition of the issue.
“I have grandsons in Sydney and I just believe that they’ll never own a house, so I’m really concerned that, in this great country of ours, we are forsaking our young generation,” Mr Clarke said.
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He has wide experience in housing, including in PNG and with Indigenous communities.
“Nothing is impossible to solve but we need to work together; we need the help of government departments, politicians, but also public servants, to work with us to try and find solutions to it,” Ms Clarke said.
“We have some answers of our own, which we’re happy to put forward, but for our ideas to work, we need the support of government agencies.”
Mr O’Neill reiterated a deeper hidden need for a solution to the young adults’ housing dilemma.
“Being rejected over and over, and being told that we aren’t the people they’re looking for, impacted our mental health quite badly, so we could only assume that everyone else around our age looking for rentals are in the same situation – getting rejected, feeling like there’s no hope for us, and there’s no support at all,” he said.
“So, while we are trying to get affordable land to build affordable homes, it’s more about young adults getting a ‘fair go’ in housing, because, right now, we’re getting rejected before we even have a foot in the door.
“YPHA Inc is a community-driven voice for young Australians being locked out of housing. We advocate for policy change, affordable pathways, and practical alternatives so young people can secure a place to call home.”
The Young People Housing Association Inc has been established to engage with industry and elected representatives to provide a cohesive voice and advocacy for property rental and home ownership by young people.
The association has not-for-profit status.
