The desperate rental state for the poor - eastern Sydney

This was in the local rag, the Southern Courier for Sydney's south east where we live. It's a bit hard to get the link as it goes through a "NewsLocal" portal, but you can Google it if you're really interested.

It's an article about the terrible state of housing affordability in eastern Sydney. The statistics are very gloomy for those of us on low incomes, as housing prices continue to boom. A survey done by Anglicare of the local area found that the median price for a one bedroom place was now $450 a week. There are very very few cheap places on offer.

Residents on disability support pensions, living off infrequent work or without a job are “one crisis away” from finding themselves on the street. 

“There is a lot of people at risk. It’s (Sydney’s) high rent, the casualisation of the workforce ... it’s very scary for them and it’s largely driven by there not being enough affordable housing,” said Homelessness NSW senior policy and research officer Digby Hughes. 

The Southern Courier has compared median rental prices throughout southeast Sydney using online listings. The figures reveal an average cost of a one-bedroom unit is about $450 per week. 

A two-bedroom house will set renters back an average $650 per week. Anglicare Sydney’s Rental Affordability Snapshot analysed 14,036 properties available in greater Sydney on the weekend of April 11 to 12 this year. 

Of the 14,036 properties advertised, only 58 were affordable and appropriate for households on income support payments without placing them into rental stress. 

According to the results only eight were in a five to 20km radius from the CBD, taking in the southeast. 

A 22-room boarding house sitting on a quiet street in Botany offers its residents cheaper rent not easily found in Sydney’s inner suburbs. Currently they pay about $200 for a room and bills. Some are on support pensions due to underlying medical conditions, while others are looking for job. But even employed residents are finding it increasingly hard to break into the area’s rental market. 

Dan Hansen, 55, a resident of more than eight years, said even with his job there was “no way” he could afford to rent on his own. 

“There’s not many places around here for single men to afford a place to live on their own,” he said. 

Stephen Mobley, 56, a resident of 11 years, said the boarding house had given him the chance to get ahead, getting a welding and fitting ticket. 

In 2014, 42 per cent of NSW households receiving Centrelink Rent Assistance were in rental stress; 

In the South Eastern District the social housing waiting list for a one or two bedroom unit is between five and 10 years; 

The district’s wait time for a three or four-bedroom abode is 10 years; 

59,534 applicants are waiting for social housing.