Late Autumn
Whilst repairing the water damage to the old cottage in the south east corner of Adelaide I have been walking in the parklands in the early morning and late afternoon with Maleko during the late autumn and the early winter months. The experience brings back memories of living here in the 1990s writing the PhD on Heidegger. Whilst living here I have been able to connect the philosophy with the photography.
I also recall the great difficulty that I had in paying the monthly mortgage payments. This was during Keating’s recession of the early 1990s (“the one we had to have”) with its interest rates of 17 per cent due to economic mismanagement.
leaves
I am acutely reminded of this history because of the present. It is much more difficult to buy a house in Adelaide in the 2020s after Covid. The deposit required is $75,000; the median house price is $900, 000; rents are $600 a week; and you graduate from university with a basic degree with a debt of $50,000+. Many people are being priced out of the housing market because it is now really difficult to save that deposit with that debt and that level of rent.
Unlike many people today I was able to get into the property market in the late 1980s. But the focus on home ownership at market rates will not assist low income households who are living with the greatest need for homes or people experiencing homelessness. Some can no longer afford to rent. They live at home, or if they encounter any misfortune (eg., family breakdown, mental illness or domestic violence) they can easily become homeless. Many people are living in tents in the parklands, or they are sleeping rough in the CBD especially in the south corner of the parklands.
Autumn leaves
What I also notice walking around the streets of the south-east corner whilst returning from being in the parklands is the extensive social /public housing (circa 1970s) that enables people on low incomes to live in the city. This is such a contrast to today with its minimal public housing with the consequence being the huge waiting lists for public and community housing.
So we have increasing homelessness and a deepening housing crisis:
Pirie Street
The lack of affordable and available rental housing confronts people who become homeless after losing their accommodation, like the end of a lease agreement and the rents then being significantly increased beyond what they can afford. So growing numbers of people are locked out of home ownership and private rental due to skyrocketing prices.
