New research shines a light on single mother rental issues
It was the question that drove the research for a newly released report by Tenants Victoria in partnership with CSMC: as a group disproportionately experiencing legal issues in relation to renting a home, why are single mother families the least likely to seek legal help or exert their legal rights?
What the report, titled ‘Restricted, Resilient, Resourceful: Legal help-seeking among single-parent renters’, revealed was a fairly common reason with a multiplicity of causes.
Ninety-five per cent of the survey participants claimed to have experienced a repair or maintenance problem, yet said they were afraid to assert their rights as renters for fear of having to re-enter the market, and felt under immense pressure to present as ideal tenants to secure housing in a competitive rental market.
“[I’m] hesitant to keep pushing [for a repair issue to be addressed], because then they put the rent up or they move you on… you’re forced into making compromises around your quality of life or your quality of dwelling.” – Bronwyn, single mother of two
This fear of losing their rentals and not being able to secure another is a key cause of single mothers not speaking up. At the launch of the report last week, one single mother summed it up. It’s the culture of the real estate industry, she said. From real estate agents to landlords, there’s is the persistent – and incorrect – belief that single mothers are bad renters, a financial gamble, not families to trust with a property.
It’s a sharp contrast to what we at CSMC know to be true: that single mothers are seeking to be long-term tenants and are motivated to care for their rentals and pay their rent on time, in an effort to create a home for their children. It’s a truth that the rest of the world is understanding – not so Australia.
The notion that rental properties are a short-term proposition, and a means of short-term income for landlords is one that has long been rejected around the rest of the world.
In Europe, long-term rentals are very common, with many renters staying in the same property for years, sometimes even decades. For investors, rental income is seen as a lifetime investment, not a series of quick grabs.
Many European countries, like Austria and Norway, have standard rental periods of three years, while in Belgium, it’s nine years. In Germany, it’s illegal to write a fixed-term rental contract for a normal residential property, meaning most leases are by nature unlimited in duration.
“… I’ve lined up and have walked through and known that I’m applying against double income earners… how on god’s earth do I compete against these people? How do I get a house?” Sylvie, single mother of one child
Other barriers standing in the way of single mothers asserting their legal rights in regards to rental properties include lack of time and financial resources.
What needs to change
‘Restricted, Resilient, Resourceful: Legal help-seeking among single-parent renters’, recommended changes that would assist single mothers to better access legal support in relation to their rental properties:
Finding a rental property:
- Provision of increased social housing stock by the Victorian Government on an ongoing basis to match the national average proportion of total housing stock, to better meet the demand for low-income single-parent households
- Legislation of a ‘fairness formula’ to regulate rent increases to ensure more certainty for renters in the private rental market and fairness across the rental sector
- Exploration of long-term lease options, similar to commercial leases, to provide additional security for single-parent households with school-age children
- Implementation of a standardised method for information collection during the application process
Managing relationships with landlords, real estate agents, and housing providers:
- Promoting a culture shift among real estate agents and/or landlords through a licensing and training program that includes information to counter preconceived notions around the viability of single parents as tenants
- Increased mandatory compliance processes for landlords and housing providers to ensure that they are meeting their repair and maintenance responsibilities
Seeking help:
- Provide more accessible and timely support to help renters understand and navigate the system, including an intake process that combines an assessment of an individual’s challenges, structural barriers and the legal problem
- Extended service accessibility through longer phone-line hours, an online booking system for appointments or callback times, and an online chat function on service websites to allow single parents to contact services at a time that suits them
- Establish a central intake point and/or a standardised intake process for free legal services to streamline access for people entering the system at different points. This would reduce people seeking support from services they are not eligible for, and better assist those with multiple legal problems
- Develop an online service directory for renters who are confident to self-refer, providing information about free legal and related non-legal services, including eligibility criteria
Navigating legal, community and government services:
- Services utilise a co-design approach with renters to develop easy-to-understand educational materials, templates, and guides on managing rental problems, and on how to engage with legal systems and legal processes
- Provide follow-up information to strengthen the capacity of renters to remember and apply information during stressful times. This may include follow-up check-ins for renters experiencing severe stress or complex challenges
- Introduce a lived experience role in services, such as a single parent who rents, to provide tailored support to single parents”
- Reduce referral roundabouts by establishing a common source
Help-seeking outcomes:
- Build increased awareness and understanding among renting support workers of the individual, environmental and structural barriers that can affect the ability of single parents to engage with their rights as renters. For example, by developing and undertaking training about single-parent renters and their specific needs
- Strengthen multidisciplinary collaboration, connecting legal services with allied supports to assist renters with legal or related non-legal problems
- Continued investment to better meet the demand for assistance for rental legal problems and related service needs of renters. For example, expanding funding for more non-legal positions in legal services (i.e. social workers, financial counsellors, and system advocates/navigators) to enable an integrated service approach
- Further development of peer support programs to foster greater community connection and knowledge-sharing among single parents
“… you need that immediate response instead of sort of waiting for someone to eventually
send you an e-mail with some generic information… you need to talk to someone.” Eliza, single mother of one child
The report found that existing service practices that help improve legal knowledge, confidence and literacy are essential in aiding the development of skills needed to address rental legal problems. However, the report stresses that services should go further – by placing greater emphasis on acknowledging, accommodating and combatting external factors through an approach that addresses complex and interconnected legal, financial, health and housing issues.
Download the full report and condensed report.
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