We constantly hear about rental shortages in Lismore due to a lack of supply. This situation is now impacting overseas medical staff who are being offered jobs by Northern NSW Health Local Health District (NNSWLHD) to fill their lack of registered nurses and paramedics at the Lismore Base Hospital.

Anish Soman arrived from the U.K. in January this year with his wife Akhila and two children, Ridhvik and Rashid, to start a new life in Australia. Anish is a registered nurse at Lismore Base Hospital (LBH).

It has always been Anish's dream to live in Australia, and he has had to do it the hard way. He was educated in India, moved to Kuwait, worked for the Ministry of Health for seven years, and worked for the NSH in the U.K. for three years before landing a job in Lismore.

"People from Northern New South Wales Health came to the UK for an interview to select the nurses, so they were actively looking, Anish told the Lismore App. After COVID, I think there was a big shortage of nurses in Australia, so one of the agencies informed me that there is an interview going to happen in London with people from Northern New South Wales Health. I submitted my resume, they came back to me, and I went for an interview. That was in April 2023.

The approval for Anish to come to Australia took longer than others who arrived on a 186 visa, which means you need a sponsor. Anish had already applied for permanent residency independently.

As part of the employment package, the NNSWLHD puts families in hospital-owned accommodation around the LBH area for three months. During that time, new residents need to start applying for permanent housing. This is where the problems begin.

"The day I came here, those who were already here told me to start to find a house straight away because it's really, really hard to get. So, I just started my search. I searched all the real estate agents and put in all kinds of applications everywhere. I went for 10 or 11 viewings and submitted my applications for all of them, but I got none of them. My last day was April 8 to find a house."

"They didn't say any reason, they always just say that your application is not successful. But the majority of my friends were saying it's mainly because of our rental history. We don't have a history here in this country. I think, maybe in some houses, they have issues with the children. Maybe they won't don't rent to people with school children because they're scared."

While NNSWLHD wouldn't throw the Soman's on the street, the pressure is still there to find permanent accommodation so they can bring in more new overseas medical staff as well as settle your family.

Real Estate Agent Andrew Gordon (R Gordon and Son) confirmed that no rental history is a big stumbling block for overseas nurses arriving in Lismore and the Northern Rivers.

"It is all about mitigating risk for the homeowner," Andrew explained, "And if you have a lot of applications, which we do at the moment due to lack of supply, you will generally take the one with a consistent rental history."

"But I encourage real estate agents to take a risk, a small risk, because these are qualified medical staff with steady income trying to make Lismore home and who knows, they may be purchasing a home in the future. I think we should be giving them a fair go."

Andrew was the real estate agent who helped Anish and his family get into their first Lismore rental in Goonellabah.

"In my case," Anish explained, "I was able to find this house because one of my friends, who is working with me, he's a friend with Andrew Gordon. He already told me if you need housing, just contact him, he will help you. So almost two months before, I contacted him for a house, but at that moment, he didn't have a good house. So I waited, and one day, all of a sudden, my wife told me there was a viewing today in Goonellabah. Shall we go and see the house? So I just came here, but I didn't know that it is under R Gordon and Son."

"I liked the house, then I just checked the ad in the real estate application, and so suddenly, I contacted Andrew. I told him I'm still struggling, can you help me with this house? He said don't worry, I can help. Then everything was so fast. I saw this house one day, put in an application, and the next day he told me the house is yours."

This scenario is not an isolated case, as two to three overseas families are arriving from overseas every month. Anish said there were 25 new families before he arrived in Lismore.

The shortage at Lismore Base Hospital has been acute since COVID-19 arrived on our doorstop and NSW Health introduced mandatory COVID-19 vaccination for all healthcare workers to protect staff and their families, patients, visitors, and the broader community in August 2021. Under the current work health and safety framework for infectious disease screening and vaccination, NSW Health workers are required to have had at least two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine unless they have a medical contraindication.

In addition, Lismore lost many rental houses in South and North Lismore because of the February 2022 flood. R Gordon and Son lost 140 themselves, and they are one of ten agents.

"We've got hundreds of rentals, and at the moment, we've only got two vacancies, so it makes it really difficult."

"I love the fact that the hospital is being utilised. We've got staff coming through. These are all new families to our area. They'll settle one day, they'll buy a house. I'm sure they might move on, but they might choose to stay. And if they do, the kids will go to school. They'll fuel our economy, and the wheel turns."

While the future looks rosier with the promise of more housing for Lismore and the return of investors into the Lismore housing market, the short term looks more dire, where people will feel some pain.