REGIONAL New South Wales is no longer a reprieve for Sydneysiders looking to escape skyrocketing rents in the city, with affordability in the regions hitting record lows, according to the tenth annual National Shelter-SGS Economics and Planning Rental Affordability Index released on Friday.
Low income earners are bearing the brunt of the rental crisis with single JobSeekers facing extremely unaffordable rents, with 69 per cent of their income going towards rent.
Single part-time workers on parent benefits are also struggling with extremely unaffordable rents, sacrificing 56 per cent of their income to rent.
The average rental household in regional New South Wales is now paying almost 30 per cent of the gross income of $89,977 if renting at the median rate. Renting in regional New South Wales straddles the border between Moderately Unaffordable and Unaffordable with a RAI score of 101.
Shelter NSW CEO John Engeler says the regional rental market is spiralling out of control, with people across the state struggling to afford to keep a roof over their head.
“What was once affordable is now out of reach,” he said.
“The regions used to be seen as an affordable alternative for Sydneysiders to escape to when city rents became unaffordable. But this is not the case, especially for regional residents on local wages. This is not sustainable and will only get worse as these regional populations grow.
“We are urging the NSW Government to provide more social housing, that is public and community housing for low-income people, and restore the social housing safety net to 5 per cent of all housing stock by 2027, working towards a goal of 10 per cent of all housing by 2040,” he said.
“Renters deserve stable and secure long-term housing. While we commend the NSW Government for its reform to make renting fairer we now need it to commit to delivering substantial numbers of genuinely affordable rental housing for low to average income households. We also need urgent action to wind back the short term rental market. The stock of private rental properties has been gutted in many regional cities and towns leaving local people with no option but to leave.”
The greatest affordability decline in regional New South Wales has been seen along coastal areas such as Tweed Heads, Port Macquarie and Coffs Harbour, as well as inland areas such as Orange and Dubbo. Before the Covid-19 pandemic these areas shifted from Affordable to Moderately Unaffordable and Unaffordable.
Byron Bay has been found to be one of the least affordable suburbs across the entire country, with the entire coastline of NSW offering Moderately Unaffordable rents.
While there are some areas with Acceptable to Very Affordable rents, they tend to be remote with limited access to services such as hospitals, schools and emergency services.
Ellen Witte Principal at SGS Economics & Planning said there are very few affordable long-term rentals on offer, pushing households to the brink of homelessness.
“This is a serious problem that needs to be urgently addressed by the NSW Government,” she said.
“We need to rapidly expand social and affordable housing and strengthen renters’ rights. Rental affordability in the regions is a serious issue that needs urgent intervention.”
