At Lismore Caravan Park, Krista Goddard gets dressed for work each morning and heads into the CBD office when she works five days a week.

Her husband and 14 year old son also get ready for work and school, in the camper trailer they moved into last week when they were made homeless.

Their routines continue like they did before the house they were living in was sold –and they had to move into the caravan park.

Despite her situation, Krista has kept her sense of humour and laughs as she says “don’t call me trailer park girl”.

The Goddard family are one of a growing number of working people who are affected by the dire shortage of rental properties in the local area. It’s a situation created the booming North Coast property market, rising house prices and a growing population.

In this story, The Lismore App also speaks with local real estate agencies to get the lowdown why it's been so hard to get a rental property and what the process of applying for a house is.

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“The problem is fuelled by skyrocketing house price values and people taking the opportunity to sell their homes for huge profits,” Krista said.

“I work full time and earn good money and now I am living in a caravan park in winter, still trying to find a rental property.

“There are a couple of others at the caravan park with the same problem – who were living on properties that sold and now they can’t find rentals.

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Skyrocketing house prices

Krista said her family been living on a property in Caniaba when the owner decided to sell the house.

“The owner was offered $100,000 more than the original value for the property,” she said.

“That wasn’t the original agreement with us renters, but he got a quick sale – the house was sold within two weeks, with a quick settlement and contracts signed.

“Six weeks after the house was put on the market, we had to move out.”

“We couldn’t even find an empty storage shed in Lismore. We had to use a shed on a friend’s property that is not even enclosed to store out stuff in.

“We tried to find a rental but there are so many people looking and there’s not enough houses.

“The caravan park is a nice place but it’s really cold in winter and I prefer my privacy.

Pet problems

“We just had to let go of our family dog too. We are putting him on a plane to go and live with family members now because we can’t have him here.”

Real estate agents

“When the house was put on the market, people were bidding on it in an auction without seeing it.

“I saw a Current Affairs report regarding real estate agents who were putting low prices on houses, so more people would bid and send the sale price through the roof.”

Read more about house prices locally: Our region tops property value growth nationally

Rental vacancy rates snapshot

In the month of April, the Northern Rivers region had the second-lowest rental vacancy rates in NSW (with Albury being the lowest at 0.3%).

A monthly survey by Real Estate Institute of New South Wales (REINSW) reported that our region’s rental vacancy rates were at 0.4% in April – up from 0.3% in March.

The rental problem

This small rise in vacancy rates still isn’t enough to meet the demand for rentals for local people.

Krista said she has been in touch with all of the local real estate agents in her search for a rental property and has experienced competition, long delays and big discrepancies in what is needed to apply for a house.

Krista said it’s time-consuming and confusing and she wants to know how the successful house applicants are actually chosen.

Some real estate agencies require house inspections before applications are submitted- and others want pre-inspection applications made.

Wait times

“I’ve been looking at rentals every day and request house inspections and often need to wait,” she said. “The real estate agents wait until there are a large group of people before they show us through – and it makes the wait even longer.

“There are lots of confusions because some houses are listed for rent but are not actually ready yet and are still being renovated.”

“I want to know how real estate agents pick their clients.

“I have a job and still can’t get a house and some people are just trying to survive. With some houses, you even need $3000 bond to get a rental property.

“I don’t want to leave the area because of this. I love where I work and my job is what keeps me going. Everyone at Biztax are doing what they can to help me get a place.”

The Lismore App contacted some local real estate agents to see what the different processes of applying for a rental property were.

PRD Real Estate

At Lismore’s PRD Real Estate agency, rental property applicants are required to inspect the house first, before submitting an application.

PRD senior property manager Courtney Lane said viewing first was important to make sure people were happy with the house, prior to applying.

“We have between 80 to 130 applications for a rental that costs under $500 a week,” she said. “We still have a few properties with three bedrooms under $500 a week, but only three that are under $400 rent a week.

“With so many people applying, we wouldn’t be able to get through the workload if we did pre-applications.

“Some people might get put off applying by the number of others at the inspection, but some of them might not apply because the house is unsuitable for them.

“I advise people to still apply and to do it within one day of looking – because houses are going quickly. They should also make sure they answer all the questions and have all of the correct supporting documents too.

Who decides which person gets the property?

“We submit all the appropriate applications to the property owners, and they approve which tenants they want.”

Ms Lane said anyone with a bad rent history is ruled out, and it was important for all tenants to make sure they don’t get their rent in arrears.

30% of income rule

“We also look at proof of bank savings and assess house affordability,” she said.

“This rules out some people because your rent can’t be more than 30% of your income.

“The 30% rule culls a lot of local people out because rents have increased so much – even those with good rental history.

“We hold people’s applications for eight weeks and if they are still looking and apply for other houses too, we might just need them to update their ID or provide a newer payslip for income proof.

“Most house owners have a clear good applicant they choose. They will look at your income and make decisions based on if you can pay the rent – so they can pay their mortgages.

What about pets?

“We try to encourage owners to allow pets at their properties. This helps us to have the right clauses in the rental agreement to cover the renters and owners – and might include things like the carpets need to be cleaned or flea sprayed before the tenants leave.”

R Gordon & Son Property Agents

Real Estate business owner Andrew Gordon said pre-applications before seeing a rental house were accepted at his business.

“The good thing about pre-applications is that we get to check referees and the paperwork first, then we talk to the owners, who make the final decisions,” he said. “This means that when you do view the property, you are ready to go.

“But, even though you might pre-apply, we don’t like signing a lease unless you actually inspect the home.

“Sometimes people look on behalf of family members – and then the family didn’t like it.”

Does a person with a higher income get preference over a lower income?

“Capacity to pay is always a consideration,” Mr Gordon said.

“But a lot of people don’t work at all and that doesn’t make them lousy tenants.

“If there were two applicants and all had perfect applications with the right paperwork, except one earned more, it might give them an edge – because it means you are more financially capable of paying.

“In the end, a perfect applicant proves they will honour their obligation. They will have references from previous landlords saying they pay rent and look after the place, and it doesn’t matter about income.

What about pets?

“There is a shift toward landlords becoming more friendly toward having pets.

“When you rent a property, you want 100% of the market to apply and most families have dogs and cats.

Rent rises and stock

Mr Gordon said 90% of renters are renting properties costing less than $500 a week and that the rise in property values and rental prices started in the last year.

“The average rental price before that was about $360 a week,” he said. “It’s definitely become a more difficult rental market and more rises are expected.

“The problem is not just high rent prices and house sales.

“The ideal of accumulating assets over time for others to benefit from later is long done. Times need to change.” 

Read more about affordable housing: Affordable housing crisis gripping the region sees action at local forum