Migrants and refugees feel they are copping the brunt of Australia’s housing affordability crisis
Migrants and refugees are finding it harder to get a roof over their heads, even as they are blamed for Australia’s housing crisis as rental vacancy rates fall.
An Essential Research survey conducted for Settlement Services International (SSI) found that 43 percent of those from a migrant and refugee background were likely to have experienced difficulty finding affordable housing in the past 12 months.
More than 1,160 people were surveyed, including people from a migrant or refugee background and people born in Australia who spoke only English.
The research by the organisation, which has to resettle thousands of newly arrived refugees every year, also found that more than a quarter (26 per cent) had been forced to leave a property in the past year due to rising housing costs.
Ariet Oko Agwa, an Ethiopian refugee who came to Australia about six years ago, almost slept in her car between Brisbane and the Gold Coast with her five-year-old son.
Ariet Oko Agwa was almost homeless due to the lack of affordable housing.
They were rescued at the last minute by members of her community, who slept the night in a friend’s garage.
“I almost became homeless and then one of the ladies (from the Ethiopian community) told me that instead of sleeping in your car you can sleep in our garage because they had three bedrooms but they were full,” she said to AAP.
The struggle to find a suitable home continues for the 25-year-old single mother who grew up in Kenya’s Dadaab, one of the largest refugee camps in the world.
The disability care worker lives in shared accommodation near the Gold Coast and pays almost $600 a fortnight for a small bedroom.
Mrs. Oko Agwa claims it is not a conducive environment to raise her son.
She has learned to live a meager life with just a single bed in their small room after all her furniture was destroyed during heavy flooding in south-east Queensland two years ago.
‘It is very difficult to find a house on your own. Maybe because I’m not from this country,” she said.
Renters faced increased competition for housing amid increased immigration to Australia. Pictured: A rental inspection in Sydney
“I’ve applied to a lot of houses and they’ve all been rejected and when I call them (real estate agents) they don’t give a reason.”
About 60 percent of migrants and refugees surveyed say it is harder for people without English as their first language to find affordable housing.
Haitham Subhi, a housing expert at SSI, said the private rental market has become more expensive and scarce in a post-COVID landscape, with average rents around $200 higher than before the pandemic.
About half of migrants and refugees surveyed (49 percent) felt they were being unfairly blamed as the main cause of Australia’s affordability crisis.
“They feel the tension and just want a chance to start their new life.”
“The process itself is quite intimidating because… you’re immediately put at the bottom of the list.”
Experts have called for regulation of the private rental market, with input and enforcement from industry associations.