A record jump in Sydney rents has prompted an urgent call to action from social housing activists.
The harbour city posted its fastest quarterly and annual rise in rents, pushing the median price for a unit to $670 (US$445) a week, according to figures from Domain’s June rent report.
Community Housing Industry Association NSW chief executive Mark Degotardi said the change would mean disaster for many families amid the ongoing cost-of-living crisis without government intervention.
“The evidence of the housing crisis couldn’t be clearer,” he said on July 6.
“It’s time to confront this crisis head-on and the first priority is to build the social and affordable housing our state desperately needs.”
The median weekly asking rent for a house in Sydney reached $700, eclipsing Canberra to become the most expensive market in the country for the first time since 2018.
On average, those renting units in Sydney pay $145 a week more after prices surged by 27.6 percent over the past year.
“Month after month rents continue to climb, vacancy rates remain at some of the lowest rates we have on record and we have a social housing waitlist in NSW with 58,000 families and individuals waiting for help,” Mr Degotardi said.
He said social and affordable housing takes the pressure off the private rental market and provides a safety net for struggling families.
Most other capital cities also saw significant increases in rental costs, with the average weekly rent in Melbourne jumping to $520 for a house and $500 for a unit, marking the longest stretch of rental increases the city has ever seen.
The exceptions were Canberra, Hobart and Darwin which all had modest drops in rental prices.
The $2 billion recently invested in social housing by the federal government was welcome but not enough, Mr Degotardi added.
“This housing crisis demands that the state government makes its own sustained and significant investment in social and affordable housing.”
