Housing and mental health.

calmseeker · ‎28-01-2020

Hi All,

I have been thinking lately about the link between good mental health and housing. Yet again, I have a pending move, which I know is a trigger for my anxiety. I tend to get quite ill after a move, there have been too many moves for me recently. mostly because am in the private housing market and my owners always either move back into their property or sell the property. I yearn for a stable, long term home (I could never afford to buy). I am such a 'homely' person. I feel that if I could remain somewhere for a reasonable amount of time I could really relax and focus on my mental health, I feel like I never can, I am always moving or catching up financially from a move or trying to settle in somewhere new. The cost is phenomenal to rent now, it really blows my mind. What a person needs to come up with for a rental property is quite a lot, not just the rent itself but the moving costs, cleaning of previous property, etc.

I am aware of NRAS but those properties rarely come up. Housing Dep have told me 10-15 plus year wait. Private market ridiculously expensive.

I am very thankful to even have a roof over my head, don't get me wrong (not that I can afford that roof though). I realise there are lots of people who don't even have a home so I am really not ungrateful, just sick of the stress that comes with searching for affordable, decent housing where I can hopefully lay my hat for a few years. A home should be a place where a person can feel safe and relaxed and heal and survive - not feel like a hotel. My ranting was not meant to actually be a big whinge about my situation (sorry if its turned out that way!) more so just a comment on the link between good mental health and stable housing really.

Hanna3 · ‎06-02-2020

They mentioned on the 7.30 Report on the ABC tonight that next week they're having a special series on the future of housing in Australia. I hope they don't just talk about the price of houses but also the rental situation, public housing etc. It might be worth a look.

calmseeker · ‎07-02-2020

Thanks for mentioning the ABC report, its something I will be watching and may have missed it if you didn't mention it so thanks. I too hope they delve deep into the issue and don't focus on price alone.

You may be able to answer a question I have about public housing Hanna. So does it still work like this ; you are on a waiting list, when your name finally comes up you get offered what they have available but there is no choice about house or location? If you don't take it you go back to bottom of the list? I am on that list but will probably never get offered anything in my lifetime anyway, but nevertheless, I am curious.

Hanna3 · ‎07-02-2020

Hi calmseeker,

I'm in NSW are you I think in Tasmania? Because it might be a little different from state to state.

I had priority listing as I was fleeing violence (long story my psychiatrist's secretary took me in and her husband was violent and I fled and became homeless & had a social worker's report confirming that). So being homeless you get bumped up - otherwise the wait list is years and years and years. You can get priority listing for health reasons, homelessness, fleeing violence, and if you have a really good specialist doctor who knows what sort of thing to write! The volume of paperwork you have to do is enormous.

Once they make an offer, you have (in NSW anyway) only 24 hours to view the property and make a decision - this is a real rush if you have to travel and gives you little time to think. If you say no to the first offer, you do get a second offer - no guarantee of when that will come up, or whether it will be better, worse, or similar to your first offer. It's really tough.

There is choice about location and you can look up NSW Housing wait list times to see which areas are the high or lower demand areas. So yes you can choose a particular town or area. It's wise to give reasons why you want that particular area etc.

So you do have to jump through a lot of hoops, but once in you do at least have in NSW a five year lease and affordable rent! House inspections usually once yearly.

Unfortunately I had some terrible neighbours - single people usually only get given units. So it's a mixed blessing, but does give you far more security than private rentals. You do get marked as a "houso" (even though I have two university degrees) so it comes with some social stigma at least in a regional town where they know from your address that you're in public housing.

I'm sounding too negative, there were heaps of positives, I was unlucky with having violent/out of prison/ice addicted neirghbours. A few were lovely but not enough to counteract the bad ones - as a woman alone I was a target.

So basically, yes you can choose an area/town/city, you really need to get priority listing (even then my wait time was nine months), you get a brief window to make a decision once they make an offer, you get a second offer later if you decline the first place, after that all is OK as long as you have a good neighbourhood etc!

I hope this helps! Let me know if I can help any more...

Elizabeth CP · ‎07-02-2020

Quirky is spot on it is not just the price of housing but the community it offers, the closeness to transport . the friendliness of neighbours. When I look at others who are renting I am glad I was able to make the sacrifice needed to buy our own home even if our first house was tiny & far from ideal. The security & being able to adapt the house to suit my needs is priceless particularly when like me I've cared for my mother who was in a wheelchair & later my husband became blind. Unfortunately illness, disability & unemployment are not confined to home owners. Instead people who desperately need the security of a stable home which suits their physical & emotional needs are the least able to afford to buy.

Losing your home due to trauma such as the bushfires is extremely difficult & I hope there are people helping all those in Quirky's position supporting them to move forward in the way which works for the individual.

My DIL doesn't want me involved & my MH is very fragile at the moment so I can't do much to help my son.

calmseeker · ‎07-02-2020

Thank you so much Hanna for that excellent information. I wasn't actually aware that there was any choice in the whole process so that's good to know that there is a little bit of choice it seems.

I am in QLD, but was born in Tas , I left about 18 ish years ago. I hear public housing is even harder to access down there these days.

Five year leases and yearly inspections sounds amazing to me considering I have not had a rental that's lasted more than 13 months in the last five years and I have inspections every 12 weeks (I call them 'intrusions' these days instead of 'inspections'). As far as the stigma goes that wouldn't bother me. Living with a MI gets you used to stigma I feel!

I feel that the information you have just provided may be of value to others out there on these forums also and hope they come across it if they need. It was very concise and helpful info so thanks again x

I look forward to having a chat with you regarding your thoughts about this upcoming housing discussion on the 7.30 report. I hope its an interesting episode.

CS

Hanna3 · ‎07-02-2020

Calmseeker I think inspections every 3 months is utterly intrusive and should be banned. I never had them more than six monthly thankfully. You've had bad luck being moved around so much. Some people are lucky - I have a friend (a single mother) who has had the same rental unit in Mosman in Sydney for over 15 years with the rent never increased! That must be almost a record.

Give public housing a try, because you are only in with a chance if you're on the wait list - and if you have any reason that can give you priority listing, you have a very real chance of getting something within about a year. One of my neighbours had priority listing because her elderly mother lived nearby and needed her help, so that reason on top of her mental health issues bumped her right up to the top of the list. Good luck, do try!

Hanna3 · ‎07-02-2020

I don't mean to make a big thing of it, but the stigma can affect your mental health - people can treat you very contemptuously when they know you are in public housing. Not all of course, but a lot of people can be very nasty - and this can affect you even though you think it won't. I wouldn't say for a minute don't go into public housing because of it - but just be aware of it and have some replies ready if people are rude!

calmseeker · ‎07-02-2020

I get where you are coming from Hanna, even being a private renter I feel it. "Just a renter" I hear.. So I could understand how it would be even more stigmatised in the public system. I find that really sad but there are those out there who feel the need to put people in boxes I guess, this usually indicates an issue with their on self esteem I feel, not sure, but there has to be some reason for a human to be that judgemental. I bet Sam doesn't give a hoot about this and is happy to be with you with a roof over his cute little head 😉

Hanna3 · ‎07-02-2020

Calmseeker people's assumptions and attitudes are strange. Years ago I had a friend who had inherited millions of dollars, but because she was petite and dressed casually people in stores etc used to speak to her quite rudely or ignore her. Two saleswomen in a carpet store ignored her one day when she came in with me, looking to recarpet an entire block of units that she owned in a prestige part of Sydney She walked out. Imagine the business they lost by assuming from the look of her that she was not worth much!

When I was in private rental I had a knock on the door from two men trying to get people on centrelink benefits to enrol for costly courses (this hit the press soon afterwards). I was on the disability pension, but when I opened the front door they saw the bookshelf behind me full of books and quickly said "Oh you couldn't be on Centrelink payments sorry" and left. The assumption that people receiving Centrelink payments wouldn't read books!

Why I feel somewhat despondent about our current rental state in this country is that so long as our government doesn't see any kind of rental reforms/affordable housing as important, nothing will be done to improve matters. What on earth can we do?

Katyonthehamsterwheel · ‎07-02-2020

To add my bit to the convo, there is definitely discrimination towards people in public housing. Apparently quite a stink was kicked up when they wanted to build the group of units I'm in - the first for the suburb. I'm lucky that it is one of the nice suburbs and the place was brand new when I moved in. The first place I got offered was an absolutely dive in an awful area and as a young single mum that I was at the time, no thanks! Here in WA, we don't have term leases. The place is yours so long as you remain eligible, which is fantastic.

I do sometimes like to use the "this is public housing" thing to my advantage. When people come knocking wanting money for charity, or want to sign you up to something, I just say "we're public housing don't you know. None of us have money". Hahah. I mean, I really don't, but I'm not usually that up front about it being public housing.

Anyway, wouldn't it be nice if there was more focus on housing affordability, but hey the masses voted in the wrong government...