Thousands of families in Melbourne's outer suburbs investing big slice of household income in home loan repayments Single mother of five, Tracey Tanner with two of her sons Beau, 16, and Cory, 22, is under severe mortgage stress. Picture: Kris Reichl Source: News Limited TO say that single mother of five Tracey Tanner is struggling with mortgage stress would be an understatement. The Craigieburn woman has to find $2200 a month after fixing her interest rate eight years ago. "At times it can be extremely difficult," she said. Despite working full-time, she said: "If it wasn't for credit cards we wouldn't have got through it." Ms Tanner, whose youngest child is 16, said soaring power bills also took their toll. "I'm sure there are a lot of people in the same boat as me who've got fixed rates and we're not getting to reap any of the benefits," she said. Thousands of families in Melbourne's outer suburbs are investing a big slice of household income to pay off home loans, unpublished Census data reveal. More than 40 per cent of Craigieburn residents with loans are under mortgage stress (defined as putting at least 30 per cent of disposable income towards the mortgage). The same applies to parts of the City of Whittlesea. And in Cranbourne and Dandenong, 39 per cent of households are suffering mortgage stress, according to figures crunched by Monash University's Centre for Population and Urban Research. The centre's Dr Bob Birrell said many had bought when the economy was booming but now faced an uncertain future amid rising unemployment. "They are left with this big debt and if one of the two partners lose their job or they go on to half-time work it's potentially a serious situation," he said. The Brotherhood of St Laurence and other agencies recently opened Connections@Craigieburn to provide financial, employment and welfare services. One of its financial counsellors, Michael Keehan, from Lentara UnitingCare, said mortgage stress was a big local problem. "When a client loses work unexpectedly or faces reduced hours, it takes longer than usual to get back into work and the interest cost often eats away at their equity," he said. Other suburbs with a high proportion of residents under mortgage stress include Rockbank and Caroline Springs (37 per cent), and Pakenham and Hallam (35 per cent). Dr Birrell said economic uncertainty helped explain the dramatic downturn in house sales on the city fringes in recent years. "The feeling is that employment is much less secure and the willingness to take on a $300,000 mortgage appears to have diminished," he said.