Housing and mental health.

[calmseeker]

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.

[Guest_1643]

hi all, loving the vibe here. Feels less lonely. I've struggled in private rental myself had a lot of anxiety about not being eligible for properties.... and the competitive nature of it. SEnding lovely warm wishes and a home with a view of the ocean for each and every one of you. Not a rentlal, one that you can keep 🙂

[Hanna3]

Hi Sleepy,

Isn't it bad when there's a huge queue of people waiting to view the property and you've got about ten minutes to check it out anyway - and you stand there knowing you're all hoping you'll get it and you're all in the same awful boat... it's demeaning really. Always nice to chat with you Sleepy!

[calmseeker]

Oh Sleepy, that sounds lovely - thank you for conjuring up that for us all!

[calmseeker]

Katy cockroaches are the worst! I heard that it doesn't really matter what steps you take to eliminate them because if neighbours aren't taking the same steps to get rid of them you will have to deal with them anyway. I have them at mine also and its a new build property - they just love the heat and refuse to go away.

[calmseeker]

Hanna I am so sorry to hear of the struggles from your childhood and how they affects you now, its very cruel and it must take lots of courage on your part to manage it. With that in mind, we come full circle back around to how housing affects MH.

Yes Tas has become a really expensive place to rent. It used to be the cheapest next to NT not so long ago. I left Tas and moved to QLD quite some time ago now, but my sister rents in Hobart and pays nearly 500 weekly for a very basic 2 bedder. Read a news report about a Tas mum of 5 who had rented for 6 years and had n A1 record and if faced with homelessness due to the rental market conditions, even though she is prepared to pay 450 weekly for a property. Tas real estate agents are saying they can get up to 50 applications for one property in that price bracket.

I really hope housing listen to your needs and help you accordingly Hanna. If you have to enter back into private market my fingers are crossed tight for you that there is longevity with the lease and landlord and agent are fair xo

[Hanna3]

We have them here too calmseeker - this area never used to, it was too cold, but the warming climate has brought them in - horrible big ones, ugh!

[calmseeker]

Does Housing Dep. do an annual internal cockroach/spider spray for you or is that something you would have to pay for yourself ?

[Hanna3]

Hi calmseeker,

Housing doesn't do anything like that unfortunately. They check the smoke alarm once per year, that's it. I had trouble where I lived before with infestations of fleas from the woman upstairs who kept a cat and the lady had dementia - I used to have to fumigate my unit regularly it was disgusting... Sam was on treatment that kills fleas at one bite, but with an infestation you can imagine how many bites he and I were suffering before we finally got rid of the fleas until next time... the only relief was when she finally had to go into a nursing home and Housing cleaned out the unit - first time the unit had had a clean in decades I suspect!

I remember when real estate agents were encouraging investors to Tasmania because the housing there was cheap, that was a real problem - and apparently also the number of students taking up cheaper rentals in Hobart (that is a real problem in the town I am in too - rents here are very high due to a university campus being here).

This is a large and growing inland city but when I walk around the streets there are shops closing down all over the place... it's probably partly the drought, but as house prices here are close to the city prices, and rents are very high, I can imagine lot of people don't have a lot of spare cash to spend on things like florists, expensive interior decorating shops etc... I know when I buy a book I buy it second hand online, and people go to the next town to KMart or probably also buy cheaper online like I do...and the OpShops do roaring trade (I wouldn't cope without them!)

I wish people would stop thinking of property as a way of making money, and just see it as a basic human necessity - shelter! We really have lost the plot in this country...

I am off to have a dinner of bangers and mash - I'm down to bedrock with money until Monday and I felt like good old sausages with mashed potato (unhealthy but nice!) - and poor Sam is sitting at my feet with his nose twitching....

Let me know how you go finding a place, as I really really hope the next one will give you many years there... you've had to move over and over...

I don't know what's going to happen with me... I can cope with autumn and winter I think but not another summer - I start to panic but have to tell myself at the moment I have a roof over my head and some time to think and look around as it gets cooler...

BTW, how do you cope with the Qld climate after Tas? I found the humidity on the coast difficult...

[calmseeker]

Hey there Hanna,

I am actually surprised Housing don't carry out internal pest control. Spiders may not prove a long term problem but cockroaches may do and I would think they would do a spray just on that basis. I have found in private rentals that it depends on the owner and which real estate youre renting with as to whether it gets done or not, some do some don't.

It was definitely a shock to the system moving from Hobart to QLD for sure! For the first 2 years it was just hot all year round for me - I was wearing summer clothes in winter when locals were rugged up in jumpers. I am now used to the heat, but as you mention, its the humidity I cant quite get used to - hot is one thing humid is a whole other thing and I still struggle with it.

I read an article about Tas rental crisis and they stated all the things you just mentioned as to why its become so unaffordable and competitive down there. They also mentioned Air B & B as a contributing factor.

It sounds like where you are living just doesn't have the sense of community you need in your life right now. How long does it take you to drive to somewhere where there is more going on and more shops and a kmart and big w etc? From what I can gather your rent should be low since your living in a fibro house without much of a community around you but its not, it sounds reflective of the expensive Australian house market and not so much reflective of what you actually have for the money. You must be doing a marvellous job of stretching your benefit out after rent is paid - sounds like you're very resourceful and quite frugal financially. I have a partner on a minimum wage and I get a teeny tiny pension (almost not worth taking out of the bank really) and we struggle after rent is paid and often do the bangers and mash scenario like you are doing - all good now and again but it gets depressing after a while. That seems to be just the way it is in this country for renters with small incomes, its just living to pay rent and there is not much in the kitty for anything else.

I definitely will keep you posted re my pending move and I would also love to hear how you get on with your situation too.

Have an awesome day lovely lady xo

[Hanna3]

Hi calmseeker,

Good to hear from you again. Yes AirB&B is such a problem that I read that places like New York are banning them in several areas as they are forcing out long term tenants and also destroying the neighbourhood feel - having strangers come and go instead of people who actually live there.

This is actually a huge town with two shopping malls, we have Big W and Target but they put KMart in the next largest town further away (trying to reduce competition amongst the shops I think). It's just that I feel unless you are born here, or you are a young family and meet people through your children's school - it's really, really hard to break in. Moreso at my age I think as the older ones already have their social networks. So I'm getting tired of my own company. People here seem to be pretty insular which I think is true of many inland towns. Maybe people by the coast are more relaxed - also they attract more people who are retiring so a more mature agegroup. Oh well I'm stuck for the time being.

Housing doesn't do much. The worst thing is that they rip down any window coverings, so when you move in it's bare windows, so you have to cover the cost of venetians or vertical blinds or curtains and curtain rods or whatever you need. So many people can't afford this they end up just covering windows with a sheet so it makes the public housing look even worse as you go past.

Apparently they suppied houses only with cement floors but I think this got changed as it was impossible for people to pay for flooring!!!!!

For some reason today I am horribly tired so I'm having lunch and a break for a while - maybe it's the weather or lack of company or possibly both! You take care of yourself, I hope you find another rental soon, what a pain for you. Are you inland or on the coast by the way? Just interested. I have a friend who moved to Warwick in qld but the heat sound pretty awful there. Hope you are having an OK Saturday, cheers.