BY ISABEL EVERETT
A report released today shows Port Stephens made the list as one of the least affordable areas for renting in regional NSW, whilst the Upper Hunter is one of the most affordable areas.
The Affordable Housing Income Gap Report, produced by Hunter-based Compass Housing Services, found non-metropolitan LGA'S in NSW have greater affordability issues than in other states.
"The Hunter was a bit of mixed bag, in places like Maitland and Upper Hunter, things were actually quite affordable. In places like Port Stephens and Lake Macquarie, distinctly unaffordable," says Report author, Martin Kennedy.
"Newcastles pretty much right on the cusp of being affordable and unaffordable."
The report found prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, renting had become marginally cheaper across the bulk of the Greater Sydney area but significantly more expensive in certain regional areas of NSW.
Of the 10 least affordable local government areas in NSW, four are outside Sydney.
The report was based on the median income of renters across Australia, and measured housing affordability by determining the amount of
additional income a typical renting household needs to avoid housing stress on
various types of dwellings.
"In places including Newcastle it very much depends on the type of dwelling you need. If you only need a one or two bedroom apartment, and you're a median income earner, you're fine. But if your looking for detached 3 or 4 bedroom housing, it starts to look a whole lot less affordable," Mr Kennedy says.
"The gaps between what you could afford, and what you would be required to pay is still around $4000 a year, which is not insignificant."
Mr
Kennedy said the report shows that housing stress isn’t just something
experienced by people on low incomes.
It found lower household incomes in regional NSW meant typical renters in many areas experienced housing stress despite nominally cheaper rents.
“Even
before the current crisis working families with average incomes often struggled
to rent suitable properties close to jobs,” he said.
“Throw
in the possibility of reduced hours or a job loss due to COVID-19 and things
can become very tough indeed.
“Although
rents are expected to fall in the short term due to more stock coming on to the
market, they may not fall far enough to become affordable for typical renting
households.
“More
to the point, it shouldn’t take a global pandemic, closed borders and
widespread lockdowns to bring median rents more in line with median incomes.”
Mr
Kennedy said the existence of the affordable housing income gap is part of a
broader housing crisis.
“The problems facing renters are largely due to purchase prices being too high and social supply being too low."
“Unfortunately, people who can’t afford to buy,
and don’t qualify for social housing, have no option but to cut back elsewhere
and try to manage as best they can.”
Regional
NSW’s least affordable LGAs for renting were Byron Tweed Shire, Clarence
Valley (Grafton), Ballina, Coffs Harbour Shoalhaven, Port Macquarie, Goulburn,
Kiama and Port Stephens.
The
most affordable LGAs for renting were
Upper Hunter, Broken Hill, Wagga Wagga, Tamworth, Western Plains (Dubbo),
Queanbeyan, Albury, Bathurst, Orange, and Armidale.
The Report’s recommendations
include:
·
the construction of 500,000 social
and affordable housing dwellings in the next 10 years
·
stricter controls on residential
mortgage lending to keep borrowings to realistic multiples of household income
·
repealing stamp duty in favour of a
broad-based land tax
·
relaxing urban growth boundaries
which artificially ration the supply of land
·
scrapping first home buyer grants
and stamp duty exemptions
·
giving renters more support and
stronger protection under state and territory tenancy laws.
·
alternative allocation models for
social housing.
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| Image Credit: Real Estate.com |
