Anglesea housing issues

Anglesea housing options and affordability remain a challenge

By Penny Edmanson

Anglesea’s housing availability has changed with many holiday house owners electing for a permanent sea change and rental owners cashing in on the advantages of the short-term rental.

Readers of this publication are mostly in the happy position of enjoying all that Anglesea offers: a place of beauty, rest and rejuvenation where the bush meets the sea. For decades Anglesea has offered a relaxed lifestyle, a close-knit community, and the availability of housing both through ownership and rental. Since the early 1880s, when some land was subdivided and the first guest and boarding houses were built to cater for new holidaymakers, Anglesea has grown to become one of Victoria’s premier holiday destinations as well as building a permanent population. There has always been some tightening of accommodation options over summer when historically the population swells to over 10,000. But increasingly, residents are being forced out of long-term rentals (see Case study A), prospective workers are failing to find accommodation and potential young buyers are being priced out of the market. A widening gap is being seen between the affluent and the middle class with even dual income families unable to remain in the town (see Case Study B). This impacts on the demographics of our town and has a roll-on effect, not only on businesses, but also on longstanding facilities such as the Surf Club. President of the Anglesea Surf Life Saving Club, David Marsh says, ‘The Club is by no means isolated from the housing challenges facing the local community. Even the Club’s main purpose – lifesaving through beach patrols –is not immune. ‘The reality is that over the last few years it has become more challenging to get the volunteer surf lifesaver numbers needed to maintain patrols, simply because there is no access to accommodation at an affordable price at the right time.’ Managing Director of the Great Ocean Road Resort, Damien Cerantonio endorses this view, saying that the staff shortages are a problem year-round because of the lack of availability of affordable rental. An informal survey showed that 70+% of employers and employees in Anglesea commute from out of town, with many interested in living here, but unable to afford the current rents. At the time of writing, the median weekly rent for Anglesea was $600, significantly higher than the Victorian

median of $390. Local real estate agents confirm that demand for rental properties is very high with little change to the total number of houses available for long-term rental. Median house prices have also risen substantially. How do we keep Anglesea a place where the elderly can stay, the next generation can remain, workers can live and we continue to thrive as a healthy, vibrant and diverse community? Older single women are among the most impacted by housing affordability nationally and locally. Many in this demographic are being forced to leave Anglesea, a town they love and have built connections with often over many years (see Case Studies C and D). Identifying this as a growing crisis, Increasingly, residents the Surf Coast Shire Council recently are being forced out of created a new position of Strategic long-term rentals, Initiatives Coordinator, currently held prospective workers are failing to find by Alicia Hooper. The Strategic Initiatives role and the Affordable Accommodation Action Plan aim to accommodation and support the roll out of the state potential young buyers government’s Big Housing Build are being priced out of minimum spend allocation of $20 the market. million for social and affordable housing in the Surf Coast Shire and to address the Key Worker Accommodation Crisis, declared by Council in May 2021. As Alicia says, ‘Like many municipalities across Victoria and Australia, rental report and property price data highlight the crisis which is increasingly impacting moderate income households’. Alicia acknowledges that building relationships with communities is essential to ‘ensure place-based needs and strengths inform the development of social and affordable housing’. To this end, Council is working with Lorne Business and Tourism Association and Anglesea’s very own ‘Housing Challenge 3230’ working group. Housing Challenge 3230 formed as a consequence of growing concern about the impact of rising house affordability on the Anglesea community and seeks to raise awareness and work toward solutions. The group aims to meet regularly and has engaged with the newly appointed Surf Coast Shire’s Strategic Initiatives Coordinator, Business and Tourism Anglesea (BATA) and local politicians, and is seeking to learn from others in our region experiencing the same challenges. The group welcomes all participation and can be emailed at housingchallenge3230@gmail.com.

CASE STUDY A

‘Ron’ and his family made the sea change in 2002. After working hard in a local business for nearly 15 years, changes in his circumstances found Ron both homeless and unemployed. With family still in the area, Ron was keen to make Anglesea his home. He was happy for any form of housing while he rebuilt his life. Two short-term rentals came to an end when the bulldozers arrived, then a share house sold in less than a week. The 30-day contract meant Ron had little time to find alternative accommodation. Ron had no alternative but to find a caravan and take up an offer of a space in a driveway. Short term turned into five months. A glimmer of hope with a seemingly long-term arrangement was dashed when the property was sold. Ron was now looking at rental of $620 per week, unaffordable for a retiree such as himself. Again, at the age of 65, Ron was looking for someone to share with. The future is uncertain for Ron. For now, he has a housemate to share the rent but he constantly asks himself, ‘where will I go when I can no longer afford to live here?’

CASE STUDY B

‘Jill’ and her husband’s dream was always to buy in their home town of Anglesea. However, the property boom is making affordable rental very difficult to find. Jill and her husband, both professionals on full-time wages, are currently living in a twobedroom apartment, as it is the only place they can afford while trying to save for a house deposit. They consider themselves fortunate, however, their rent goes up every year and they suffer the anxiety of not knowing whether their lease will be renewed. Real estate agents have told them that many owners are opting to Airbnb their houses for $250+ per night over the holidays and leaving their houses vacant over winter. With the median house price in Anglesea sitting at $1.5 million, Jill and her partner (like most of her childhood friends) are being forced to look to Geelong, Torquay and Winchelsea to become homeowners.

CASE STUDY C

Having spent 22 years in various locations on the Great Ocean Road, ‘Ruth’s’ dream was to settle in Anglesea, once retired. PreCOVID, she and a friend were successful in securing a rental property. Ruth embraced community life, becoming actively involved in many local groups as well as enjoying the beauty of her surrounds. After 18 months the house was sold and Ruth and her friend found it impossible to find anything in their price range. Desperately wanting to keep the dream alive, they opted to go with the only place on offer – a fourbedroom house with a nine-month lease and an astronomical rent. Unfortunately, this proved too difficult for Ruth’s friend who returned to Melbourne. Ruth could not find anywhere to rent on her own and is currently living in a one-bedroom unit in East Geelong.

CASE STUDY D

‘Joan’, a lady in the latter half of her life, separated from her partner who moved out of their long-term rental property. Joan had spent most of her life raising children and did not have savings or a career to fall back on when she needed to pay the rent and bills on her own. With a medical condition and little support from her adult children, Joan only just managed to pay the weekly rent of $420 and was thankful for the COVID rent freeze that held off any increase. However, when this ended and a large rent increase was proposed, together with another increase in a year’s time, Joan had to leave. Joan did find somewhere affordable in a bayside suburb in Melbourne. * Case study names have been changed.

Anglesea Football Netball Club women’s team is looking forward to another great year of football following their first year playing as a team in 2021 and making it to the semi-final. One of the biggest highlights of the year was playing in the inaugural Surfcoast IDAHOBIT (International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Intersexism and Transphobia) Cup in May last year against Torquay. It was a thrilling game that ended in a draw (teams are pictured here with Mayor Libby Stapleton and Cr Mike Bodsworth). Anglesea is looking forward to challenging for the Cup again this year. Keep an eye out for a date and time and come down and support Anglesea playing for a cause.