Beerwah pensioner about to be evicted says laws are working against most needy
A BEERWAH woman set to be evicted from her property this week says laws are now completely stacked against tenants, despite changes that were designed to help them.
Fiona now calls Beerwah home after having spent 30 years living in Melbourne. But recently her rent was increased by $50 to $750 per week, the final straw in a cost of living blowout that has seen her savings diminish along with so many Australians.
With the tight rental market, Fiona said she had applied and been rejected for 35 properties since accepting that she would have to move.
The 68-year-old has mobility issues and requires specific housing including low-set and no stairs. “ There could be 100 properties listed to rent, but for disabled and elderly only five of those could be suitable that we are all fighting to rent.
While Fiona is on a pension, she has modest savings and superannuation that she said would easily cover her rent. But while real estates say Fiona does not have enough income, she is also ineligible for assistance through aid agencies such as Rent Connect, because they say she has too much in savings.
“Everything is stacked against people like me,” Fiona said.
“What hurt me was that I’m getting a rental allowance and anything that’s a shortfall I use my super. I don’t draw it for fun but I can’t just live on my Centrelink pension. “I drew down on the super so I had some for a rainy day, but then the agency calculates that my superannuation has to last 30 years. “The only things that have changed are the laws and it’s making it fairer for the agencies. “I’ve had no breaches, I’m very quiet, of course I don’t have parties and I’m nice to the neighbours.” Fiona said it seemed as though a lot of women in her age bracket were struggling with shortfalls in superannuation.
“Lot’s of women my age don’t have a lot of super,” she said. “But I tried hard to save money, worked hard, retired and of course I’m not going to take it all out and blow it.”
“But nobody listens. You apply through websites like apply.com, and all they’re interested is in your income. And when you’re rejected, you don’t even know why. “If I knew why maybe I could do something about it.” “I don’t want people to feel sorry for me. That’s not the purpose of talking. “I just want to highlight how easy it is for people in my age bracket that suddenly find themselves on the edge,” Fiona said. “To some degree it’s easier if I just died.”
Fiona said it was extremely likely she would have to leave Beerwah, a town she had grown to love.
“I love Beerwah,” she said. “I came from Melbourne after 30 years and I love living here. This is such a nice community, people say good morning to you, they check on you. It’s a great community but it looks like I’m going to have to move out of here.”