West Australians are struggling with housing pressures and rising costs, with families like single mother Ashlee Somerville forced to move repeatedly and pay skyrocketing rents. From Broome to Esperance, overcrowding and homelessness are worsening, sparking debate over solutions at an election forum. While some argue that housing alone won’t solve the crisis, others insist more homes must be built. As financial insecurity deepens, the issue is set to be a key battleground in the upcoming state election.
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00:00Single mother Ashley Somerville and her two children have lived in three different rental
00:07homes since the end of 2023.
00:10I didn't lose again.
00:13Forced to move repeatedly, she's now paying almost double the rent she paid five years
00:18ago, more than half her income.
00:21And the lease is up again soon.
00:22It's just again facing that unknown insecurity of not knowing, is it going to be renewed?
00:28Are we going to have to move again?
00:30From Broome in the north.
00:32It's really expensive to live here.
00:33Yeah, you can hardly afford it and you can understand why people are living on the streets
00:38and sleeping in parks.
00:41And south to Esperance.
00:43We have families that are overcrowded because you have two or three families in one house,
00:50which then you get all the other social problems that come with that, the domestic violence.
00:55West Australians are feeling the impact of housing pressures and higher prices.
01:00Everything's gone up, housing in particular is completely beyond all the young people.
01:05An election forum discussing how to stop people falling through the cracks.
01:09We can't simply build our way out of this very human crisis in the short or medium term.
01:15Brad said we simply can't build our way out of a housing crisis, but we have to try.
01:21We need more homes.
01:22In the meantime, people remain vulnerable.
01:25I had to call an ambulance just a little while ago and I've got an invoice for that.
01:30I can't afford it.
01:32One bill highlighting the financial precipice confronting many voters at this election as
01:37they prepare to decide who will lead the state into the future.