Study of the Health Needs of Older Women Experiencing Homelessness in the Perth Metropolitan Area

Study of the Health Needs of Older Women Experiencing Homelessness in the Perth Metropolitan Area

The Age-Friendly Rental Housing Guide is one of the outcomes of Connect with Home, a project developed by Connect Victoria Park Inc and funded by the Department of Communities’ Age-Friendly Communities Program.

Connect with Home ran from June 2020 to March 2021. Twelve women joined the project to document their current housing situation, personal experience of searching for secure housing, and individual needs and aspirations for housing in the future.

Introduction

This guide is the result of research done by Wendy Morris, Connect With Home’s Project Officer and herself an older woman with past experience of living under housing stress. Wendy looked into options to meet the current and future needs of older women renting in the community, and received input from the group in form of tips and stories of lived experience.

In collecting information for the guide, consideration was given to the multiple difficulties faced in the private rental system: rent increases, insecure tenure, eviction notices and inadequate or  safe housing. Safe, secure and affordable housing becomes more important as people age, therefore the focus of this guide is Social Housing – made up of Public and Community Housing, which may include retirement villages and independent living units – and the National Rental Affordability Scheme.

Read the Rental Housing Guide here.