Orana House signs up real estate agencies to help victims of domestic violence amid housing shortage

The perfect storm created by a surge in family domestic violence, the exorbitant cost of living and the rental crisis has been recognised in a new program that has real estate agencies topping up rent for victims escaping abuse.

Orana House, a Perth-based refuge and not-for-profit organisation which provides crisis accommodation, is signing up Perth’s real estate agencies to financially support FDV victims.

Already two agencies — SOCO Realty and Property Exchange — have signed up as Impact Agents, making the weekly rental top-ups worth about $50 per family each week.

The top-up helps the victims compete for the relatively few rental properties amid Perth’s longest-ever rental crisis.

Women living in refuges or with abusive partners have been unsuccessful in up to 300 applications each. Only 15 per cent of all rentals in Perth are priced at $400 a week or less.

Speaking on International Women’s Day, Orana House’s Erin Hegarty, who leads the project, said accommodation had never been so difficult to find.

“In more than 30 years of providing crisis accommodation to FDV survivors, Orana House has never before experienced a context as challenging as what we face right now in Perth,” Ms Hegarty said.

“The dire lack of affordable housing has created a dangerous bottleneck in FDV services across the State, where women who we’ve supported to safety are unable to leave the refuge because there’s nowhere — absolutely nowhere — for them to go.

“Our program is changing this narrative.”

At a ceremony today, a trophy will be awarded to inaugural Impact Agent Ashleigh Goodchild, of SOCO Realty, and also to The Property Exchange.

Ms Goodchild said the landlords were delighted to play their part in changing the lives of young families. She said a breakfast event with 50 property managers would help educate them on how they can raise awareness with landlords to consider FDV victims.

The initiative comes on the heels of Orana’s Housing Families project last year, in which compassionate landlords were paired with families in need.

Orana House revealed it had so far housed 12 families through the program, in which landlords overlooked an absence of rental and job history to recognise an applicant’s overall quality as a tenant.

All tenants are both screened and supported by specially trained outreach workers throughout their tenancy. Those interested in signing up should visit orana.net.au.