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“It’s just about condensing life into a vehicle and [to] see what I can fit in the back of it.”
In a quiet moment by the water, Elizabeth Wright reflects on the uncertainty of life without stable housing. As rental prices soar, she’s among a growing number of Australians facing an increasingly fragile future. Source: SBS News / Christopher Tan
Wright, who is on income support, talks through the layout of her single-cab ute, with calm resolve: she’s already planned how to convert it into a sleeping space.
“I always aim for minimalist living but maximalist style, and the past year and a half has really challenged me to do that.”
I can’t have my daughter with me in that space. That’s what’s demoralising, that’s what breaks me.
But after a year of renting across Perth — and facing three evictions through no fault of her own — she’s rehearsing how to survive homelessness.
A single mother on the brink of homelessness scopes out this park in Perth’s north as a potential place to sleep. With nowhere stable to live, she’s planning how to turn her ute into a last-resort shelter. Source: SBS News / Christopher Tan
For now, Wright is couch surfing at her sister’s rental, another single mother on the verge of being priced out of housing in Perth.
“But, just sort of losing [my] home over and over again, after losing something I’d built myself [and] having to re-set up somewhere else … I am so over moving things,” she says.
Housing pressures most acute for WA renters
But it is renters who are feeling the sharpest edge.
Perth recorded the steepest rise in advertised weekly rents nationwide between 2019 and 2024, outpacing all other capital cities. Source: SBS News
The median advertised rent in Perth has climbed from $350 a week in 2019 to $650 by the end of 2024 — an 86 per cent spike that makes it the least affordable capital city for renters in the country.
The lack of protection from no-fault termination leaves renters like Wright vulnerable.
Growing risk of homelessness
“Most people have felt this pressure in the last three years. Renters are choosing between their rent and medication, groceries, bills.”
Housing advocate Jordan van den Lamb says soaring rents and weak protections are pushing more Western Australians to the brink. “We can’t rely on a market solution to fix a market failure,” he says. Source: SBS News / Christopher Tan
Shelter WA estimates a person earning $70,000 a year would now spend 58 per cent of their income on rent alone.
“I am pretty sure constantly moving out … unless you want to … is not what the great Australian dream is for housing,” Wright says.
The power imbalance
“People come to us for advice on repairs, but then they hesitate — worried that if they complain, their lease won’t be renewed,” Pennycott says.
There’s no way to challenge a no-grounds eviction. Unless the notice itself is invalid — the reason doesn’t matter.
But Pennycott says that’s not a justification for inaction.
Alice Pennycott from Circle Green Community Legal is calling for urgent reforms to end no-grounds evictions and improve protections for people at risk of losing their homes. Source: SBS News / Christopher Tan
“We are not saying landlords shouldn’t be allowed to evict people,” Pennycott says.
“We are saying we just want a reason and we are supporting introducing more reasons into the legislation.”
A broken market
Even with 3,300 social homes delivered and 5,800 more promised by the WA government, waitlists continue to grow.
Demand for social housing in WA has surged, with the waiting list ballooning and urgent applications rising sharply over the past six years. Source: SBS News
More than 21,000 people are now waiting for public housing. The average wait time is 151 weeks.
Among priority applicants, including people escaping domestic violence or homelessness, demand has jumped 330 per cent in six years.
‘You didn’t choose that life’
Accessing legal support is becoming more complex, she says.
People are looking for help more than ever because they have fewer alternatives. We hear from people every day who don’t know where they’ll sleep next week.
“How is it that we live in such a beautiful and privileged society, and there are so many people without somewhere to live?”
Systemic change needed
Short-term recommendations include expanding the Commonwealth Rent Assistance scheme and making the WA Rent Relief Program permanent. The program has already helped over 2,700 renters remain in their homes.
At Circle Green Community Legal, frontline staff take calls from renters facing mounting housing stress. Many are seeking urgent advice after receiving eviction notices or struggling with unaffordable rent hikes. Source: SBS News / Christopher Tan
The report also calls for more crisis and transitional accommodation, particularly for women and families escaping domestic violence.
Among its long-term recommendations, the report urges the WA government to commit to delivering 24,000 new homes each year — including a minimum of 1,200 new or repurposed social dwellings — and to replace stamp duty with a more efficient system to support household mobility.
Small steps, but a long way to go
“Consultation with stakeholders will guide the second phase of these reforms.”
Seen through her office window, tenancy lawyer Alice Pennycott works to support renters navigating an increasingly hostile housing market. She says more and more people are reaching out with nowhere else to turn. Source: SBS News / Christopher Tan
But advocates say these measures barely scratch the surface.
“[But] we’ve been lobbying for change since 2019.”
Sitting beneath the trees by the Swan River, Elizabeth Wright reflects on the emotional toll of housing insecurity. With support systems stretched and options running out, she says no-one should be forced to raise a child from the back of a car in a country as wealthy as Australia. Source: SBS News / Christopher Tan
For Wright, the crisis isn’t just about statistics — it’s about recognising the humanity of renters.
We treat housing as a commodity, but it’s a basic human right.
“Not a car, not someone else’s couch. A home.”
