Source: Northern Territory Police and Fire Services
Eoghan Clwyde, with baby Flynn, has benefitted from the Rent Relief Fund
An extension of the ACT Government Rent Relief Fund will provide targeted, short-term emergency support for private renters in low-income households in the ACT.
This extension brings to $2.51 million the total allocated for grants under the fund since it opened in April 2023.
The fund provides support to the most vulnerable households.
It is aimed at preventing evictions, improve their wellbeing and connect them to services that may assist them to improve their financial position over the longer term.
It offers grants for up to four weeks rent capped at $2,500 to help tenants and occupants maintain safe, secure and stable accommodation.
Eoghan Clwyde and his partner never expected to find themselves in need of such support. However, in the lead-up to their first child’s birth, they experienced financial pressures.
They knew baby Flynn would be born prematurely, and so had a great deal of specialist newborn items on the shopping list.
As their costs increased, they found assistance through the Rent Relief Fund – a process Eoghan said was “very straightforward”.
“This program came at terrific timing, and we were able to acquire those extra items that we needed,” Eoghan said.
They were also relieved to avoid asking family for support at a time of widespread cost of living pressure.
To be eligible for a grant, households must be experiencing either rental stress or severe financial hardship.
Applicants also need to meet income limits which vary depending on the number of people in the household.
CARE Inc. will continue to administer the Fund on behalf of the ACT Government.
“We know how valuable this assistance is to people experiencing rental stress,” Carmel Franklin, CARE Chief Executive Officer, said.
“As part of administering the Rent Relief Fund, CARE will continue to provide wrap around support from our range of programs – financial counselling, financial capability, consumer law, community loans and community education, as well as referring people to other local support services as needed,” she said.
In addition to the fund’s extension, the ACT Government continues to work with the Commonwealth Government to improve housing affordability.
It is also investing in a range of measures to increase the supply of affordable rentals in Canberra, with the goal of delivering 600 additional rental dwellings by 2025-26.
Further information is available on the Justice and Community Safety website.
View more information about the ACT Government’s cost-of-living support.
Get ACT news and events delivered straight to your inbox, sign up to our email newsletter: