Manor Lakes family spending 70 per cent of income on rent ready to leave Victoria behind – realestate.com.au

News Corp Australia Network

A working family struggling to make ends meet is fleeing Melbourne to Adelaide seeking a reprieve from the city’s dire rental market and intensifying cost of living pressures.

Bailey Bromley, 26, Kayla Riddle, 23, and their two children, both under two, plan to move to South Australia at the end of their lease to be closer to family support.

Residing in Manor Lakes, the family’s monthly rent recently rose from $1600 to around $1955, an extra $355 a month.

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Mr Bromley said the pair were now spending 70 per cent of their income on rent.

“We’ve been going week-to-week for a good two to two and a half years,” Mr Bromley said.

“We asked my partner’s mum for money to pay our rego so the kids can go to daycare, we can barely afford nappies.”

He added that they were moving to Adelaide not only for the support from Ms Riddle’s family after struggling on their own for two years, but for their mental health.

“It shouldn’t be this hard, is what I’m struggling to believe,” he said.

Currently, Manor Lakes has one of the lowest median rent prices across Melbourne.

However, AI-powered real estate firm Suburbtrends predicts the area’s median rent for houses will increase from $380 to about $408 a week, up an extra $28, in the next six months.

Ms Riddle said the extra money they had to fork out in rent was significant.

“$100 or less in rent would make a huge difference,” Ms Riddle said.

“It’s the embarrassment of even having to ask for money because we just have nothing.”

Ms Riddle said she now feared she wouldn’t be able to own a home until she’s around 50.

“We don’t even have the money to save,” she said.

“If things keep increasing, we wouldn’t even have a choice but to go back (to my parent’s) home.”

While the family was planning to move to Adelaide as soon as they could, they felt forced to sign a 12-month lease for housing security based on the volatility in the market.

“We would have considered a six-month lease agreement; (however) it’s looking more and more like Mission Impossible at the moment to get there because of how everything is at the moment,” Mr Bromley said.

“You’re damned if you do and you’re damned if you don’t.”

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sarah.petty@news.com.au