80yo cancer patient's rent jumps 41pc as housing subsidy ends

Pensioner Paula Swann never thought she would spend her golden years couch surfing or working a cleaning job.But with the termination of a national affordable housing scheme last month, they are choices she has made to keep a roof over her head.Last year, she was informed the subsidised unit she rented in Port Macquarie would no longer be part of the National Rental Affordability Scheme (NRAS).Ms Swann says she moved back to her former unit block, but was forced to take on cleaning work to meet income requirements. (ABC Mid North Coast: Marina Trajkovich)The scheme subsidised landlords who lease homes 20 per cent below market rent, with over 4,500 properties leaving the scheme this year after a decade-long wind-down.Ms Swann, who paid $319 a week under NRAS and could not afford the upcoming rent increase, said she applied for other rentals after moving out of her property in April and spending three months couch surfing with friends."It's very hard. I never expected that at 79 I'd be homeless," Ms Swann said.Ms Swann says while she is pleased to have found secure housing, she worries about future rent rises. (ABC Mid North Coast: Marina Trajkovich)Now back in her former unit block, she has taken on weekly cleaning work to meet the building's new income requirements to afford her now $420 weekly rent."With the cleaning job and rental assistance, the income just reaches what I'm supposed to make," she said."It's very traumatic, and now I'm worrying about what's going to happen next year: will I be in the same situation? I'm on the social housing list, but I'll probably be dead before I reach the top."'Nobody to talk to'Ms Swann's property was one of around 36,000 former NRAS homes, with over 60,000 vulnerable tenants supported during the scheme's peak in 2016.Former NRAS participant Victor Anderson said he was also distressed when he was notified his Perth apartment would no longer be subsidised from June.Victor Anderson says he was offered no support when attempts to negotiate a lower rent were denied. (Supplied: Victor Anderson)The 80-year-old's apartment was close to the hospital where he received treatment for stage 4 bowel cancer.After unsuccessfully trying to negotiate a 25 per cent rent rise, his rent was instead increased by 41 per cent to $475 a week."I worry every day," Mr Anderson said."I'm a bit stuck because I don't want to move; so I'm stuck in a hard place."He said he has received no support in navigating the transition, and is considering Foodbank to help cut costs.Victor Anderson says he is forced to stay while undergoing cancer treatment and worries every day about affording the $475-a-week rent. (Supplied: Victor Anderson)"The government hasn't done anything. Nobody seems to be interested; there are thousands of people like me and nobody to talk to," Mr Anderson said.'NRAS 2.0'National Shelter CEO Jackson Hills said with no similar alternative, a new affordable housing scheme was urgently needed to ease the housing crisis.Jackson Hills says a new affordable housing policy is urgently needed, learning from mistakes made with its predecessor. (Supplied: National Shelter)"What we know now about the current market, there's no doubt you need another scaled-up affordable housing subsidy program," he said."Our current efforts won't get us there. We need another large-scale program."Mr Hills proposed a "similar and better" NRAS at the national Labor conference in Adelaide last week, which could utilise tax incentives to help subsidise affordable rental properties and be tailored by location."We think the tax system could be a great way to do something at scale rather than direct investment, which is a feature of some of the other government programs," he said."Delivering housing in Sydney is very different to Dubbo, Bathurst, Port Macquarie."A 2019 review by the Grattan Institute into the effectiveness of NRAS found it was "poorly targeted," expensive and inefficient.Mr Hills said the new scheme could better utilise community housing providers and not-for-profits to deliver the program, and learn from its predecessor's mistakes.Experts say a new affordable housing policy, like NRAS, is needed in today's challenging housing market. (ABC News: Luke Bowden)"Making sure subsidies are matched to income … that those subsidies are getting down to the people who need it most, targeted rather than a blunt subsidy system across the country," he said."Those are some of the design features you'd have to consider, and they were some of the challenges with NRAS."He said while he supports the federal government's commitment to building 55,000 new social and affordable homes, an estimated 640,000 households currently require social housing, with thousands more in rental stress due to the end of NRAS."In some cases they've definitely exited into homelessness," Mr Hills said."It might mean they're rough sleeping … but it also means they rely heavily on the crisis system that's already under immense pressure."Tenant services see spike in callsEmma McGuire from the Mid Coast Tenants Advice and Advocacy Service said she had received a spike in calls from former NRAS participants now navigating the "grim" private rental market."There's often no suitable replacement or alternative options that are easily found for these tenants," she said."There's not a great deal of support coming out of those NRAS properties."She said renters hit with increases were entitled to negotiate a lower rent.Housing Minister Clare O'Neil wants to make it easier to build a home in Australia. (AAP Image: Bianca de Marchi)"That's usually the first step for tenants … if that fails, any tenant who receives a rent increase can dispute it at the tribunal if they believe it's excessive."Federal Housing Minister Clare O'Neil did not respond when asked by the ABC if she supported an affordable housing policy to succeed NRAS and what supports were offered to tenants exiting the scheme.A spokesperson for Ms O'Neil said in a statement the Commonwealth had created "the most ambitious housing program since the post-war period … investing billions in delivering housing for vulnerable cohorts like older women at risk of homelessness."