Low-and-middle-income earners are being priced out of the Pilbara as more mining and energy sector workers move to the region.Local planners are asking the state government to give extra financial support to Pilbara builders so homes can be built more quickly.
Her three-bedroom rental property just went to $950 a week and once her son finishes year 12, she will have to move somewhere cheaper. But what makes the region unique is the tiny number of houses that actually reach the open market, according to Regional Development Australia's Pilbara chief executive Tony Simpson."Of all the houses in Karratha, only 26 per cent are owned by people like myself, mums and dads – 74 per cent is a mining investment," Mr Simpson said.
"There's a high risk those scenes will happen again, with people living in their caravans," Cr Scott said.Land is not the problem — the city has plenty of it — but finding companies willing to take the financial risk of building homes is proving difficult.