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Study reveals housing stress 'pressures'

Welfare agency Anglicare says the cost of housing is making it harder to break the poverty cycle in parts of regional South Australia.

The organisation's recent rental affordability study found that on the Copper Coast and Whyalla, people on government allowances were struggling to find affordable housing.

The study found single people on government allowances in both regions had a less than 1 per cent chance of finding suitable housing, while couples or people on minimum wage fared only marginally better.

The coordinator of Anglicare Willochra, Andrea McDougall, says the cost is forcing people to cut into other essential items.

"Most people on a low income, their only discretionary item is food, so we find that being placed in housing stress then puts a whole lot of pressures on the rest of the budget, particularly if you're ... [also] facing increases in the costs of travel, electricity bills and so on," she said.

She says the housing market is also a "catch-22" for those trying to break the cycle.

"There seems to be a bit of an effect where if you can go to where the jobs are, you can't afford the housing but if you can go to where you can afford the housing, then there is no jobs available, so it's a bit of a vicious cycle in that regard when it comes to regional areas," she said.

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