Karratha residents struggling to pay rent as cost of living in the Pilbara continues to rise

A Pilbara town struggling with a service worker shortage could get worse before it gets better as locals struggle with increasing rental prices and the rising cost of living in the isolated region. Karratha’s exorbitant rents and housing shortages have been causing a strain on available workers with the medium rental price for the suburb of Bulgarra hitting $580 a week while Baynton sits at $870. Interest rates are also rising for the first time in 11 years to 0.35 per cent, and inflation has hit 5.1 per cent adding costs for locals. Hairdresser and Karratha resident of eight years Angelique Sadaun said when she first moved to town the weekly rental price she paid for a three by one house was $260. “Now it’s $600,” she said. Ms Sadaun said the high rents nearly caused her to leave Karratha before she was granted approval for the City of Karratha’s service worker accommodation. “I was just lucky to be a part of the project from the City of Karratha. . . for this service worker accommodation so I was very lucky to have a house with them so I can I can survive,” she said. “Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to stay at all because there’s literally nothing unless you work for big companies.” Fellow hairdresser Matias Cardachi said his rent increased by about $100 in less than 12 months. “I think property owners are taking advantage of the situation of COVID — they are raising price without any sense,” he said. Mr Cardachi said the rent costs meant your quality of life in the town dropped as well. “It’s going to go out for dinner or going for a drive and discovering another place in the Pilbara, I just can’t do it because I can’t afford to do it very much,” he said. Fuel is another hit to the pocket for locals with the average cost of unleaded at 192.3¢ in April up more than 40¢ on the April 2021 average of 150.3¢ a litre Mr Cardachi said the increase in fuel prices was just another cost to struggle with. “Thankfully now it is dropping a little bit but this is still expensive,” he said. “If you want to do a holiday to Broome which is an eight-hour drive from here, you spend more money in fuel than you do to go to Europe.” Ms Sadaun said the high costs associated with living in Karratha also limited people spending at local small businesses.