A new satirical website has been launched to provide disheartened house hunters with some light relief, but also to shed light on a serious housing crisis of a different sort.
The median house price in Sydney has reached an all-time high of $811,837. While this could build 400 houses in Nepal or 200 in Cambodia, there are millions living in substandard conditions – and this number is growing.
Delights of “alfresco” and “waterfront” living are on offer for just a few thousand dollars on a phony real estate site – The Real Value of Housing.
“The reality is that these ‘homes’ represent the substandard housing that condemns millions of families across Asia Pacific to live in poverty and disease without access to safe water, sanitation or even a locking door,” Habitat for Humanity Australia, CEO Martin Thomas said. “We are not trying to make people feel guilty or dismiss the very real housing problems in Australia. But sometimes it is good to look around at some of the challenges other people are facing.”
With 500 million people living in slums across Asia today, the growth of its largest cities has created a shelter crisis which is akin to “a humanitarian crisis in slow motion”, Mr Thomas said.
The Real Value of Housing, supported by the Department of Foreign Affair and Trade (DFAT) is raising awareness of the growing rate of slums and the need for adequate housing.
Habitat for Humanity, the world’s largest not-for-profit housing provider, is aiming to provide safe and affordable homes to 15 million people in Asia Pacific by 2020, and engage another 10 million as volunteers, advocates and supporters.
It costs just $3000 to build a house in many parts of Asia for a poor family. Thousands of Australians donate to Habitat to Humanity Australia to fund these homes. Habitat for Humanity Australia also sends hundreds of volunteers to Asia each year to help build houses as part of the organisation’s Global Village program.
Habitat for Humanity Australia is also working with communities in Australia to help families that are struggling to find secure decent housing. Over the last two decades Habitat for Humanity has built, repaired or provided maintenance to thousands of Australian families.
