Rental Affordability Snapshot
Rental Stress in Sydney and the Illawarra: Low income households shut out
Of the 10,200 properties for private rent in Sydney and the Illawarra between Friday 8 and Sunday 10 April, only 123 were affordable for households who rely solely on Government benefits.
ANGLICARE Sydney looked at availability of affordable rental accommodation where rent is less than 30 per cent of income, for households who rely only on Government benefits. This was part of ANGLICARE Australia’s annual Rental Affordability Snapshot.
“Short supply of affordable rentals is forcing households who rely solely on Government benefits to spend a good deal more than 30 percent of their income on rent – they are in serious rental stress in a city already facing the highest living costs in Australia”, said Peter Kell CEO ANGLICARE Sydney.
“Many commentators focus on affordable housing for middle and upper income earners. For the one million households nationally who rely nearly entirely on Government benefits though, their capacity to get by day- to-day is already at breaking point”, said Mr Kell.
ANGLICARE Sydney is concerned that the lack of affordable rental accommodation for low income households will drive increased social and economic exclusion of the most vulnerable.
“With 30 percent of Australians renting and around 600,000 people already in rental stress, Australian Governments must increase supply of affordable housing. It must be a budget priority.
“We are terribly disappointed that the Federal Government has cut growth targets for affordable housing - 220,000 new social and public housing dwellings are needed by 2020”, said Mr Kell.
ANGLICARE Sydney believes provision of affordable and stable housing that is accessible to public transport and vital community services is key to social and economic stability.
“You give someone a stable place to live that they can reasonably afford, and you give them a chance to embrace new opportunity – that is a worthy Australian dream”, said Mr Kell.
