Jim’s game-changing switch from Ipswich to Jimboomba
When Jim opens his blinds each morning, he still can’t quite believe that he is in his new home.
“I’ve died and gone to heaven,” Jim said.
Jim, a 73-year-old veteran, had been struggling to make ends meet in recent years with the rising cost of renting in Ipswich, 40 kms west of Brisbane, Queensland.
Before moving to his new affordable home in Logan – which is part of the Housing Australia Future Fund (HAFF) program delivering 206 affordable in the Logan area - life was tense.
Jim had been renting privately in Ipswich for five years – with rising rents resulting in him spending about 65 per cent of his age pension income on rent for small home.
“I could see I was heading for trouble,” he said.
“I was working as well, I was doing some traffic control, and that was hard work, but I didn't mind getting up and going to work each day - there was a lot of positives about it, but it was just too hard for me.
“I was anxious about it (money), pretty much, every minute, but particularly more of the last two or three years, since everything started to get really tight.
“I dreaded every inspection and the follow‑up letter with the new price,” he said.
“I was eating into my savings…I was worried all the time.”
It was only by chance - after volunteering with Meals on Wheels and seeing other seniors in more secure housing - that Jim discovered he might be eligible for help as a veteran.
He’d served in the Navy for a short period as a teenager during the Vietnam war, an experience he tries to put behind him.
“I went in at 15 and a half, I was too young and they treated us like adults,” he said.
“It was a brutal time, I wasn’t there long, so I didn’t think it counted.”
Jim researched the veteran options and reached out to The Salvos for help, and then the RSL, who connected him to Community Housing Ltd (CHL).
CHL will manage the tenancies and properties as part of the 206 HAFFF homes being delivered in Logan by Together Housing – in partnership with Tetris Capital, KDL Properties and Ryse Construction.
The homes are offered at discounted rents, supporting veterans, families, key workers and people in need of secure, affordable housing. While the process took Jim awhile, he said the wait was worth it.
“It took months…I thought it was never going to happen and then one day, out of the blue, CHL called me with a place to inspect,” he said.
“From that moment, everything changed…their help, the communication - it was the opposite of what I’d experienced before.”
Now Jim lives in a newly built home in Jimboomba – a similar distance to Brisbane as Ipswich – and pays $105 less each week, sitting below 50per cent of his age pension income.
Jim said the change to his life has been immediate and profound – money is still tight, but manageable and he feels far more optimistic about the future.
He now enjoys his days relaxing at home with his cat Buddy, enjoying his garden overlooked the creek - and regular visits from his son, who lives nearby.
“Sometimes we'll go for lunch, there’s a great Chinese restaurant here with a fantastic lunchtime special,” he said.
“I feel I'm reasonably well adjusted now…I just chuffed, you know, it’s great."at.”
