from Tuesday's newspaper

 Excerpts from an article by Emily Olle, if she reads this and objects, I will remove the post.

*(in rent costs)*= my contribution

Open for rejection: Rental crisis....

"Every day a new story emerges about this state's crippling rental crisis. A couple forced to pitch a tent in Mannum, or a single father of four copping an almost $200-a-week rise *(in rent costs)* to keep a roof over his children's heads. 

Sadly, these are far from the exception. They're quickly becoming the rule for those in the rental market seeking the basic human right of a place to live. 

Let's talk through the process. Applications. Much like filling out your dating profile, you go through dozens, if not hundreds of them, and spill your deepest, darkest secrets to a complete stranger. Name, age, income, references, dating history, first pet, where were you on the night of December 17, 1967?

Then you have to make time for the date. Can you make it at 11am on a Tuesday? Interestingly, Amber from the real estate agency, I cannot. Because I am at work. Which you are aware of, because I've sent you a document outlining every job I've ever had. But, if I want to be considered for a property, I will not be at work. Because I will be at the inspection. 

You walk through. Like the man who claims to be 190cm tall on his profile, the agent describes the house as having "great bones". What they actually meant was the shower was condemned in 1913 and the living room is the size of a prison cell, but with slightly more muld and slightly less structural integrity.

Now, after all that, you walk out of the property and hear over your shoulder: "Now, I'm not going to be putting in an application. I'll offer you $100 more per week."

You turn around. It's a businessman in his early 60s. Empty-nesting, of course. More equity in his pinky finger than you have to your name. You're done for. 

And then, perhaps three or four days later, the death blow. A rejection text, "Hello,(insert name). Your application has been unsuccessful. Good luck in your search."

The hunt continues, with the pile of applications growing and an unnerving sense of despair rising with it. Finally, you get the call. You've found a home. It's $50 more than you are realistically able to pay and is so close to the train line the carriages might as well be running directly through your brain, but you've found a home. 

The renting process is flawed at best, and dehumanising at worst, and it's time for something to change."

*My contribution again:*(I have no idea how the governments can solve this crisis, apart from focusing on rapid repair of the many currently empty housing trust properties, and building more to replace those that got sold off, and perhaps putting a cap on the amount of rents landlords are allowed to charge for homes, particularly those that are smaller, older, with outdated facilities, tiny or no, backyards and probably cracks in the walls.)*