Ada Fitzgerald-Cherry never planned to have a baby while living in a sharehouse.
After becoming pregnant, the 38-year-old public servant started looking for a rental property in Canberra in March.
As her pregnancy entered the third trimester Fitzgerald-Cherry thought she would have ample time to find a new home for her and her child. Places listed online were snapped up before the inspection times. She widened her search to other suburbs after repeatedly having other applications rejected, but still could not find anything in her price range. .
“If you don’t hop on them straight away, by the time you get round to looking at inspections, they’ll have the little thing on them saying ‘under offer’,” she says.
After running out of time, Fitzgerald-Cherry struck a deal with her housemate: he would go to Adelaide for six weeks after she gave birth, so she could get the baby settled in. Then they would all live together.
“Sharing is obviously a lot cheaper than anything I could afford,” she says. “But I definitely would not recommend doing this with a baby that’s not chill.”
It has its challenges – but also some benefits. Her housemate helps out, watching Laszlo while she’s in the shower, for example.
But the search for their own home left Fitzgerald-Cherry exhausted and horrified at Australia’s housing situation.
“I don’t think it’s unreasonable to want to be able to provide a safe, healthy home on a professional salary,” she says.
Twenty years ago, in 2003, the median dwelling price in Australia was $269,827, according to CoreLogic data. In the capitals, properties were the most expensive in Sydney, at $427,816 and the cheapest was in Darwin at $176,043.
By 2013, the median dwelling price had almost doubled to $409,850, with Sydney still the most expensive at $535,898 and Hobart the cheapest at $294,582.
Priced out
The most up-to-date data shows that, in August, the median dwelling price across the country reached $732,886. Sydney is still the most expensive at $1,098,821, while Darwin the cheapest at $496,139.
Advocates say the housing squeeze on new families is affecting the birthrate, women’s ability to work, and for many, ending the dream of a big family home.
The chief executive of Parent Hood, Jessica Rudd, a leading advocate group for parents, says there is a “sticker shock” for many new parents, as they juggle paid parental leave and early learning costs in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis.
“Trying to factor all of those costs plus your rent or mortgage repayments, if you’re lucky, into your family budget,” Rudd says. “Add to that interest rate hikes and it’s no wonder that new parents find housing a nightmare.”
And as house prices rise, vacancy rates are falling.
CoreLogic first recorded vacancy rates in 2006, suggesting they at 8.0% at the time. The national median weekly rent was $299.
Throughout 2013 it was sitting about 3% – the number widely touted as good for tenants and landlords. The median rent sat just above $400.
In August this year the vacancy rate was 1.2% and the national median rent sat at $599.
‘We’ve completely upheaved their life’
When Lauren and Jeremy Redmond bought their first home in March 2021, they felt as if they had secured their future.
It had room for their son and their second child, who was then just 12 weeks away. There was a big back yard, a small deck and a fitted-out kitchen.
Then interest rates rose. Their mortgage repayments increased by $1500 a month.
“The repayments went up to taking my husband’s entire monthly salary,” Lauren says.
“We couldn’t make our last payment on the house. We had to ask for them to extend it until settlement because we could no longer afford our mortgage.”
As the housing crisis compounds, new families are having to change their idea of the perfect home to fit the confines of affordability. Parents are share housing, living in smaller apartments and some, in desperation are selling up.
The Redmonds sold their belongings – beds, TVs, artwork and anything that wasn’t of personal value. Lauren looked at taking on an extra job. They used food banks and maxed out their credit cards.
The couple had two full-time incomes – Lauren was a nurse and Jeremy an accountant.
But after Lauren suffered a sudden stroke in January, they ate through their safety net.
In August, the family sold their home and moved an hour away to Nowra, where they’re living in a unit attached to her mother’s house.
“We’ve gone from a four-bedroom, three-bathrooms, two-garage [home] to a two-bedroom, one-bathroom – with two kids,” she says.
Lauren quit her job as a nurse because the commute is too long and daycare centres in Nowra are booked out for the next 18 months.
“We got $250,000 profit from the house,” she says.
“And we just look at that like its blood money. We sold our home. We sold our boys’ home. We’ve completely upheaved their life. I’m 29 and live back with my mother.”
Rudd says “holistic reform” is needed to address the issue.
“Quality, available, affordable universal early learning and 52 weeks paid parental leave with super … that’s how we enable female workforce participation and improve house affordability,” Rudd says.
“That’s how we counter the ageing population and that’s how we deliver educational outcomes for kids.”
