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Tenuous and Dangerous………
Kim Gallagher and Mark Gove)
Tenuous and Dangerous………
“Go to a Boarding House? I would rather sleep out!”
Kim Gallagher and Mark Gove)
This is a common response from people seeking crisis or short-term accommodation at HomeGround’s housing services in St Kilda and Collingwood.
For the newly homeless, there is the shock that boarding houses and private hotels are the only option if there are no government funded supported crisis accommodation vacancies. For those more entrenched in the homeless system, the response to the available options is often to quickly state to which of the boarding houses they will not or cannot return. Some choose to sleep out.
Private boarding houses have become a significant part of the homeless service system and homelessness agencies are increasingly reliant on the private sector for emergency accommodation. The recent HomeGround Services/The Salvation Army Crisis Services/RMIT research report, Homelessness in Melbourne – Confronting the Challenge (Chamberlain, Johnson and Theobald 2007) found that the majority of homeless people (85%), including families, stay in sub-standard boarding houses at some point during their time in the homeless population.
State funded crisis accommodation makes an important but small contribution to the options presented to homeless people at housing services across Melbourne. A survey at our St Kilda office during March of this year found that only 2% of people seeking crisis accommodation secured a bed in a supported crisis accommodation facility (ie. Hanover, Flagstaff, Ozanam or a refuge). The other 98% (210 households) were referred to or financially assisted into private boarding house accommodation.
A typical start of the day at our St Kilda office sees staff, with the best intentions, seeking affordable, supported accommodation for clients presenting homeless. It is usually soon established that there are no appropriate vacancies. Any rare vacancies that come up are pounced on, usually for clients that have been presenting day after day. After this it’s a ring around of the usual private providers to find something not-too-bad for the client. At this point it is rare to be able to refer clients into SAAP support as it is our experience that these resources are primarily targeted to homeless households staying in the crisis facilities or transitional housing. The client usually leaves with some financial assistance (HEF) to secure the accommodation and an appointment to come back and look at other options. Many do not return until they are again in crisis with nowhere to stay. Others do return to start a segment 1 public housing application; however, singles are still looking at a further minimum two years of uncertain housing until an offer is made by the Office of Housing.
Housing workers hate putting homeless people in boarding houses, but the shortage of affordable housing means they often don’t have an alternative. In the private boarding house accommodation market there is negligible choice. The costs are exorbitant relative to income, the quality is poor and the standards are low. These places are mostly tenuous and dangerous. People compromise their safety, health, privacy, rights and dignity to have somewhere to stay for the night. Given all these risks, dangers and stresses, it is not surprising that the majority of homeless people with mental health or substance use issues developed them after becoming homeless (Chamberlain, Johnson and Theobald 2007).
Staff report that feeling unsafe is the main reason people do not want to go into boarding house accommodation. Boarding houses typically have a sub-culture of drug and physical abuse which is frightening and inappropriate for most people. Many people report that they have experienced assault, intimidation and theft perpetrated by co-tenants and visitors and also by private boarding house owners and caretakers. People who have managed to detox and stay clean are reluctant to risk relapse by exposing themselves to an environment where substance use is prevalent.
Private Boarding house accommodation providers are notorious for disregarding the rights of tenants. Clients often say they do not want to return to certain houses because of the way they have been spoken to and treated by owners and managers; others refuse to go to accommodation where there is no respect for tenants’ rights. Some boarding house owners ask people to sign bogus lease agreements stating that they can be evicted on the spot if they do not pay their rent on the due date. Despite this being a breach of their tenancy rights, tenants needing emergency accommodation do not feel comfortable challenging this at the risk of jeopardising their accommodation. Clients have advised HomeGround of illegal and arbitrary evictions leaving people with no choice but to sleep out for the night. Some boarding house owners have advised us that they sometimes take clients’ ID, health care cards, bankcards or mobile phones as a key deposit. This puts clients at risk of incurring fines if using public transport; it can limit their access to funds for food and other necessities and keep them isolated from friends and supports. There are widespread abuses of rights occurring on a daily basis in private boarding houses across the state.
The cost of private boarding house accommodation is another major reason why people will choose to sleep out. Once an affordable option for people on low income, a boarding house room is now comparable in rent to a 1 bedroom flat or apartment in the inner city. While some still charge lower rents (eg. $110 per week which still exceeds 45% of income of a person on Newstart Allowance!) others are charging from $160 for a single room up to $300 per week for a couple. For this you get a room; and share bathroom and kitchen amenities with between 10 and 60 other people. Dormitory rooms, where you share the room with between 3 and 7 other people, are often available for $90 per week; a relatively cheap option but a strong likelihood that your belongings will disappear at some stage!
Boarding house accommodation is barely affordable for people working full time let alone people on Centrelink benefits, people with substance use issues or other health issues requiring medication. People are often forced to make a choice between accommodation and medication and food. Boarding house rents are outrageous and proprietors are making substantial earnings from the people with the least capacity to pay and to some extent are subsidised by the government through Commonwealth Rent Assistance (CRA) and Housing Establishment Fund (HEF) assistance given to clients.
The quality of boarding houses affects people safety, rights and the cost. Some boarding houses are so poorly set up and maintained that people feel unsafe using communal areas such as bathrooms because there are no locks on the doors. Other issues include a lack of sufficient hot water and poor cleaning of amenities. Many of the boarding houses visited by HomeGround do not have sufficient crockery, pots and pans and even ovens and stovetops for the number of people residing in the property. Food storage is often in communal areas, which can mean people’s food is stolen. People are often living on take away and other easily prepared food; this not only compromises peoples’ nutrition but also adds to the high cost of living when their rent is already unaffordable.
Housing workers are diligent in their duty of care to clearly inform clients of the risks and challenges of boarding house accommodation. Once a room has been secured, we will inform the client of any safety concerns or issues that have arisen recently at that particular property. We endeavor to be as impartial as possible to allow clients make a decision about where they will stay. We do not want to send people to sleep in the streets, but often feel that their safety and health is just as compromised in some boarding house accommodation.
Between July and December 2006 almost 2000 households, seen by HomeGround’s Housing Service in St Kilda and the Salvation Army’s Crisis Contact Centre, also in St Kilda were accommodated in private boarding houses and hotels. Evidence suggests that placing vulnerable households in private boarding houses and hotels, without follow up support, exacerbates client crisis and prolongs their experience of homelessness (Chamberlain et al 2007). HomeGround has had some great successes with a housing focused outreach position to follow up with clients referred to private boarding houses to get them into better accommodation and link them in with appropriate support and health services. Unfortunately, this position is vastly under resourced and can only address a fraction of demand.
There is an urgent need for co-ordinated action from all levels of government to address the issue of private boarding houses. Responses need to focus on all aspects of the provision of these accommodation services and more importantly on the essential housing and support resources to minimize and end the unnecessary experience of homelessness. A broad range of strategies is required including:
• a significant increase in affordable social housing to accommodate people experiencing homelessness
• enforcing minimum standards for private boarding houses
• a strict regulatory framework to ensure compliance with the Residential Tenancies Act and other legislation
• increased resources for housing focused outreach support
• more resources dedicated to early intervention to divert people from pathways into homelessness
The private boarding house sector not only hides a significant proportion of the homeless population from public view it also serves to perpetuate and exacerbate people’s experience of homelessness.
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