Housing.

[Banjo]

I'm going to put links to property rental sites here and also people who know of accommodation available can contribute.

Gumtree is a good place to start.

www.gumtree.com.au/s-real-estate/c9296

[Banjo]

Aussieinusa posted this in another thread.

I'm a full-time house-sitter ('cos I can't afford rent either ). I use mostly trustedhousesitters.com to find my house-sits, although housecarers.com also has a lot of Aussie listings. You do need good references to get started; people whose house or pets you've cared for, ideally, but I've also seen people get references from bosses and friends in a pinch, to get started.

And it's a barter agreement rather than a 'freebie'; you do need to work a little, caring for someone else's home and/or pets to do it.

As for paid places... as well as gumtree, there are some private listings on domain.com.au and realestate.com.au. Or if you're just after a room, airbnb.com can be good for finding places where a person wants to rent out their spare room -- quite a few of them offer weekly and monthly rates, as they're really looking for a tenant. It can be quite good value.

Good luck!


Read more: dspoverseas.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=chitchat&thread=1991&page=1#ixzz2NUriqmQm

[aussieinusa]

CouchSurfing can also be an option, for somewhere free to stay for a night or two.

Each of those sites has its own crowd though. CouchSurfing is best if you're traveling; it's mostly about making friends from faraway places. House-sitting is best for people who present as professional and trustworthy, and/or have experience with pet care, livestock or as property caretakers. (If you owned a decent house or apartment, think about who you'd want caring for it and/or your beloved pets, while you're away.) It's also best if you're willing to go to a regional or rural area; city house-sits are very competitive. I'm yet to land one, even with a year of experience and great references!

Another option for those of us who can't afford rent is camping. In the USA, where the economy is in the toilet and lots of people are seriously poor with no welfare safety net at all, there are people camping literally anywhere they can. (I go bushwalking a lot and every little pocket of woods that can't be seen from the road has people camping in it long-term.) Admittedly, many of them are military veterans for whom urban camping is luxurious, compared to some of the conditions they've experienced in service.

I'm also currently looking into buying a caravan and setting it up for boondocking, so I can use that as a home between house-sits, and also so I can get my own cat back (i.e. have somewhere for her to live).

Everything is expensive in Australia now. If I can continue to live rent-free long-term, I can make ends meet. Add rent and regular household bills into the mix, and it ain't gonna happen for me. I'm guessing I'm not the only DSPer in that position, somehow.

[Banjo]

I'm thinking of having a run up the East coast at the end of this month, one of the accommodation options I considered was a room in a pub.
Not the Hilton etc but the "drinkers" pubs in the older areas.
These used to be common once and very cheap, usually catering for long term guests but may still be worth a try.

[macadamianut]

[Banjo]

That's fine mate.

[Banker]

Apr 19, 2013 9:41:53 GMT 7 macadamianut said:

A bit of self promotion allowed? If not, delete.


m.gumtree.com.au/house-on-5-acres-flood-free-lockyer-waters/v?adId=1017346293

I looked at your post earlier and that looks like a good deal. Where is it? Toowoomba, Gatton ?

[macadamianut]

[Banker]

Any where near Withcott?

[macadamianut]

[peter]

Hello Banjo, I had a friend drive up the east coast to Cairns last year and he stayed in several old style pubs, and never had a good word to say about them, especially the prices. Hope you have a better trip.

[Banjo]

I'm up here in God's country now Peter.
I stayed in motels twice and once in a cabin in a caravan park.

None were what I would call cheap and I found it cheaper to lunch at the roadhouses during the day then settle for a light snack in the evening rather than pay motel restaurant prices.

[whatsupdok]

Hi, I'm looking for someone who has a property in the area near the Darwin Airport that could house a Campervan while I am overseas for long periods of time? It doesn't take up much space. I will need this to start around Jan. of next year in 2014.

[aussieinusa]

My housing situation is starting to suck again; I'm not far from being a bona fide homeless person now (or at least having to sleep in my car from time to time). How do those of you stuck in our fabulous(ly expensive) country manage it?? Have you found some way to avoid the super-exorbitant market rates?? Any tips would be really appreciated.

[Banjo]

Skating on Thin Ice: Mental Illness & Homelessness

More work needs to be done to support people living with mental illness to sustain social housing tenancies, especially those relying on Centrelink payments, as the only alternative is life on the streets, according to new research.

The research paper, Skating on Thin Ice, released by the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) during Mental Health Month explores the difficulties people with mental illness face accessing and maintaining social housing.

“For some people living with mental illness, lack of money, stigma and discrimination from private landlords and real estate agents prove to be insurmountable obstacles to renting privately. This means that access to social housing is the only option for safe, secure accommodation,” Senior Policy Officer at PIAC Lou Schetzer said.

“The prevalence of mental illness among homeless people in Sydney is about four times that of Australia in general. If we are serious about tackling homelessness, we need to address this issue."

The paper includes case studies from PIAC’s Homeless Persons’ Legal Service. It includes the story a 57 year old woman with mental illness, who was a victim of child abuse. She received a notice of termination from Housing NSW in relation to her home of 18 years because of an error in Centrelink payments to Housing NSW. Then despite the negotiation of a payment plan, Housing commenced eviction proceedings.

“Some of the case studies show a surprising lack of understanding of the challenges faced by people living with mental illness on the part of Housing NSW,” Schetzer said.

PIAC and its homelessness consumer advisory committee, StreetCare, have commenced discussions with senior officials in Housing NSW to discuss possible strategies to improve service to this vulnerable group.

Some key areas for improvement, which would address some of the problems identified in this discussion paper, include:

Ensuring that all staff in Customer Service Operations in Housing NSW receive training focused on how to effectively engage with homeless people who live with mental illness. This training should be developed in consultation with people who have experienced homelessness.
That Housing NSW ensure that there is consideration of a person’s background and experience of mental illness before placing them in public housing, so that they are not placed in areas or accommodation in which they may feel at risk, unsafe, or where the accommodation is otherwise inappropriate given their particular circumstances.
That Housing NSW ensures that there is easier access to transfer for people living in public housing if they have a history of mental illness and are fearful for their personal safety or have concerns about becoming/returning to homelessness because of the area in which they are housed.
That where a social housing tenant has fallen into arrears with their rent payments, or is facing other tenancy related debt, that Housing NSW adopt an ‘eviction as a last resort’ policy. In such circumstances, Housing NSW should make multiple efforts to contact the tenant via mail, telephone and personal visits, in order to ascertain if the tenant is facing circumstances of financial hardship or crisis, with a view to referring the tenant to appropriate support services. Only after multiple attempts to contact the tenant have been unsuccessful should Housing NSW consider issuing a written warning that it is considering a Notice of Termination.
That Housing NSW develops procedures to enable identification of social housing tenants in financial crisis or hardship, by virtue of a history of falling into rental arrears, and provide warm referrals for such tenants to appropriate welfare support and financial counselling organisations.

- See more at: www.probonoaustralia.com.au/news/2013/10/skating-thin-ice-mental-illness-homelessness#sthash.Ik3EZSoj.dpuf