Anglicare Sydney welcomes the Premier’s undertaking to ease the housing affordability crisis in NSW and urges the State Government to do more to assist low income households secure suitable and sustainable housing.
“We are encouraged to hear our new Premier has housing affordability as one of the top three priorities of her government,” says Susan King, Anglicare Manager of Advocacy and Research.
“If people on low incomes are to build a future for themselves and their family, accessing affordable housing is crucial. We urge all levels of government to agree to a five year plan with numerical targets to increase the supply of social housing in NSW, and commit to at least 20,000 additional new social housing dwellings by 2025.
“This is more than being able to own one’s own property. For many people we help, renting in the private rental market can be a poverty trap due to the lack of affordable housing supply.
“The subsequent demand for private rental properties and lack of social housing, are forcing more people living on supported incomes into rental stress. Many are surviving on very little disposable income after the rent and utility bills are taken out.”
Anglicare Sydney’s Rental Affordability Snapshot last year reviewed approximately 15,000 properties that were available in Greater Sydney and the Illawarra Region on the weekend of 2-3 April. Of the 14,774 properties advertised, only 76 were affordable and appropriate for households on income support payments without placing them into rental stress.
In Greater Sydney and the Illawarra Region there were no
There were few suitable properties available for other household types, including:
Rental affordability in Greater Sydney for low income households has been consistently low for the past four years, hovering at less than 1%. Last year Anglicare’s Snapshot also revealed that affordability was beginning to decrease in the Illawarra Region.
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