Migrants are bearing the brunt of the nation’s housing crisis on two fronts. Hardly a week goes by without a politician or media commentator blaming migrants for Australia’s housing affordability issues. But the reality we’re seeing at the coalface is that it’s migrants themselves who are being locked out by soaring rental prices and a lack of housing availability.
Just over the past week, we’ve seen publicity regarding a new survey showing a majority of Australians believe our migration levels are too high, while another from the Institute of Public Affairs pointed to international students as the driver of Australia’s housing shortage.
But the truth is more complex. Working within an organisation that supports thousands of migrants and refugees to settle in Australia each year, we’re finding that migrants are not filling up the spots or taking accommodation from others – they’re actually suffering more due to housing shortages.
In a market saturated with applicants, owners and real-estate agents have their pick, and are overlooking people with language barriers, limited rental history in Australia, or a lack of understanding of tenancy obligations and rights.
This is doubly challenging for newly arrived refugees, who are often on income support payments while they are developing the English language and local understanding needed to live independently.
The cost of properties has risen significantly, limiting what they can afford. Additionally, many agents will not provide a lease to an applicant if the rent outlined costs more than 30 per cent of the individual’s weekly income. This locks many newcomers out of a lot of properties.
The housing affordability crisis is complex, but public discourse on population and overseas migration tends to focus on the migrant intake – ‘a number’ – rather than the idea managing population growth by addressing issues such as housing supply, service provision, infrastructure planning and environmental impacts.
There’s a whole ecosystem of factors at play, including population planning and new house construction, and yet we’re solely focused on migrants because they’re the easiest target.
This is stoking anti-migrant sentiment, which can lead to migrant communities feeling ostracised, being discriminated against by rental agents and landlords, and generally falling victim to racist and xenophobic actions.
Some commentators have labelled areas with high levels of migrant residents ‘dumping grounds’, while others have gone further and are also blaming newcomers for ‘packed public transport’ and reduced garden sizes in urban properties.
It’s de-humanising. But it also means we’re not focusing on the big picture and working co-operatively to solve the housing crises for all residents, not just those fortunate enough to have been born here.