Sydney housing affordability crisis hits Iraqi and Syrian refugees
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If you thought finding an affordable rental in Sydney was difficult, try being a refugee who has left everything behind to get to safety.
An influx of Iraqi and Syrian refugees are struggling to find places to live, and service organisations say the Federal Government needs to provide housing in order to address the significant issue.
"We left everything behind. Our house, our property, our money, we left everything behind and escaped," Randa Shakoori, an Iraqi Christian, said.
Ms Shakoori, her husband and three children fled Qaraqosh, in Iraq's south west, when it was captured by the Islamic State group.
The five of them are now all sharing a single room in a relative's two-bedroom unit in Fairfield in Sydney's south west.
Despite filling out several rental applications since she was settled in Australia in December, Ms Shakoori and her family have not been able to find a place to live.
"We are very stressed, always crying, it's very hard to be in this situation, everyone in the family is very tired," she said.
Fairfield property market unaffordable: Mayor
As revealed by the ABC in January, Fairfield is struggling to settle refugees after a huge influx of new arrivals — mainly from Iraq and Syria.
More than 6,000 refugees have now been settled in Fairfield, which is half the number granted asylum under the Federal Government's special humanitarian intake.
However, Fairfield Mayor Frank Carbone said the local property market had become unaffordable, with demand outpacing supply.
"At the moment it's challenging for everybody. You don't have to be a refugee to be challenged when it comes to housing affordability. We all know how difficult it is. How expensive rents are," Mr Carbone said.
The median rent for a unit was about $500 a week, but Vince Morizio, from the Fairfield Chamber of Commerce, said renters had begun offering extra incentives to crack the market.
"You'll find some will stay back and say to the agent 'Look it's $500 a week, but I'll pay $550 or six months in advance rent' just to try to secure their application.
"It makes it unattainable for anyone."
Haitham Juju — who runs The Parents Cafe, a non-profit service for refugees in Fairfield — said he knew about 40 families who were struggling to find accommodation in the area.
"Some of the families they can't stand this anymore … they were not expecting to have this kind of difficulty, some of them are crying, some of them are having family disputes … it's really frustrating for them."
Mr Juju said the Federal Government needed to provide allocated housing for refugees.
"If there is any extra opportunity for special accommodation … that would be a good system."
But Assistant Minister for Social Services and Multicultural Affairs Zed Seselja said refugees in Fairfield had a range of options when it came to housing, and his department was not aware of anyone having trouble finding a place to live.
Resettlement services funding sufficient, minister says
The Federal Government plans to spend more than $630 million on resettlement services over four years, and Mr Seselja said that was sufficient.
"The Syria and Iraq intake is sustainable and has been budgeted for. It is being managed through the Australian Government's existing Humanitarian Program Arrangements," he said.
Patrick Yeung from service provider Settlement Services International, which receives funding from the Federal Government, said the organisation had a "variety of strategies" for housing refugee families.
"We manage our own housing portfolio. We have property owned by private landlords and they are willing to lease the property for our client groups," Mr Yeung said.
"And then, at the same time, we have a very strong local network with the real estate agents so they can be more receptive to our clients."
But for Ms Shakoori said much more needed to be done.
"We're hoping from the Government there is a chance … to help the refugees. They arrive with stress and trauma so to look for accommodation for them," she said.
"We are very tired here. And for the new arrivals coming, we don't want them to have the same issues."
Topics: housing-industry, refugees, immigration, government-and-politics, fairfield-2165, sydney-2000
