Public health measures that require people to stay home, maintain social distancing and isolate where necessary, all rely on people having somewhere to live. Increasing numbers of Tasmanians
were facing a chronic shortage of affordable housing long before the COVID-19 health emergency. Hobart has been Australia’s least affordable capital city since 2018. The chronic lack of affordable rental housing leads to increasing numbers of people experiencing homelessness across the state. In 2016, 1 622 Tasmanians were experiencing homelessness on Census night, and we know that number is much higher now. In 2019, CoreLogic reported that rents in Hobart had increased by 45.7% over the last 10 years, far outstripping people’s incomes and ability to pay. Read more…
