Commenting to the decision by the Reserve Bank of Australia today to lift interest rates to a 15 year high to 4.6 per cent, Dr Rob Stokes, Chief Advocacy Officer, Anglicare Sydney said:
“This rate rise will be felt hardest by people already living on the edge because an unwelcome consequence of falling property prices is increasing rents.
“The banks pass on rate rises. Landlords pass on higher costs. Developers pass up new housing opportunities. But people on low incomes have nobody left to pass the burden onto.
“Anglicare Sydney’s housing research found only 1% of rentals across Greater Sydney were affordable for people on low incomes. All of this means that the cost-of-living squeeze on middle Australia has a vice-like grip on those on the margins.
“The Reserve Bank has a job to do on inflation, but governments can make sure the people with the least are protected. The surest way to do that is to keep building social and affordable housing."
Contact details:
Dylan Malloch
Anglicare Sydney
Head of Media & Communications
M: 0492 044 981
