“WHEN did people get so greedy?” Brian Cattanach asks as he tells News Of The Area about the precarious situation his elderly neighbour has found herself in, in Coffs Harbour.

“Judy is 83-years-old, has lived in her unit for 38 years and has now been presented with a rent increase from $315 a week to $450 a week.

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“And if she doesn’t agree to the rent increase, she has 21 days to move out from the date of the letter, last week.

“She lives off her pension which is $1,000 a fortnight, so she’d have $50 a week to live on if she agreed to that rent.

“It’s rubbish,” Brian said.

“The owner lives in Queensland and inherited the property.

“The rental agent has been good and done his job and explained the situation to the owner, but they want the $450 weekly.”

Judy says she is devastated by the sudden rent-hike.

“Apart from being disgusted, I am 83-years-old, why would they do this to me?

“I’m a wreck…I’ve got to whizz around now getting my move organised.

“My son is looking for somewhere to rent where I can be included in the family home.”

Brian said, “What if she didn’t have a family? She’d end up living in her car.

“I want Coffs Harbour people to know what’s going on in this town – how can a rent increase of $135 a week happen, especially to an elderly lady who has lived there for so long, and had her young family growing up there?”

Judy says she’s worked for many of her years in Coffs and has lots of friends in the area.

“A lot of people will be devastated for her,” said neighbour Maureen Cattanach.

On top of the recent rent increase, Judy has been unable to go outside her back door to the strip of land where she had the washing line, for the past three months.

“I paved that area myself, but the plumber came in to do some work, pulled up the pavers and it’s been like a building site ever since.

“I’ve been putting my washing on the airer but it’s not the same,” she said.

Brian said, “With the work in town people are moving up to the area – a working couple must be able to afford $400-$450 rent a week but not a pensioner.

“The rent Judy has paid over 38 years of living there…she would have bought the place twice over,” he said.

By Andrea FERRARI