Solutions discussed at follow-up forum in Denmark as housing crisis continues

A follow-up housing forum on Denmark’s rental crisis has been held.

This year Denmark house prices have boomed by almost 13 per cent, REIWA figures show.

As of Wednesday no rental properties were available in Denmark while the median rent for a Denmark property was $380 a week, according to realestate.com.

In May, concerned locals packed the Shire of Denmark offices for the first workshop to provide insights into the extent of the crisis. The latest workshop, held at the Riverside Bowling Club in Denmark last week, focused on finding solutions.

Attended by more than 30 people, the meeting started with comments from Denmark CRC manager Petra Thompson, Shire chief executive David Schober and a selection of service agency representatives.

Breakout groups were then established where smaller teams sought to identify the solutions to the problem before attendees reconvened for a group discussion.

Bricks and Mortar Housing Alliance member Jennie Newman said a consensus was reached on several topics.

“One of the things that really needs to happen is lobbying the State Government. It seems to be where the hold-up is predominantly. That’s my opinion ... and that was shared,” she said.

“The other thing that needs to happen is we need more people to go on the housing list with the Department of Communities.

“People are not maintaining that connection with the department so they drop off the statistics and, of course, when that happens people are no longer recognised as being in housing stress.

“Kim (Daniel), from the Department of Communities, was very clear that they are trying to create new strategies where people don’t just go on a list for housing.”

She said people experiencing housing insecurity needed to come forward to share experiences.

“We need people to tell their stories,” she said.

“We need people to come forward, to not be embarrassed but to share what’s going on with them.”