Homelessness New South Wales has called for greater investment in social housing as bond lodgement data reveals the areas hardest hit by rising rents.
The data, which records rental prices when new tenants lodge their bonds, shows rents have gone up 9.1 percent in Greater Sydney and 5.2 percent in the rest of NSW over the past year.
Sydney's south west - including the suburbs of Liverpool, Fairfield and Camden - suffered the biggest increase over the past 12 months at 16.4 per cent.
It was followed by Sydney's Outer West and Blue Mountains region at 13.7 per cent and Sydney's Eastern Suburbs at 11.9 per cent.
Outside of Greater Sydney, the Murray region suffered the largest increase at 10.5 per cent, followed by the Illawarra at 6.8 per cent.
"NSW is entrenched in a severe housing crisis which is causing severe distress and harm across the state," said Homelessness NSW CEO Dominique Rowe.
"Renters are being priced out of the private market and plunged into homelessness.
"It's extremely concerning that some of the areas suffering the highest rent hikes are traditionally more affordable areas such as south west Sydney.
"As people priced out of these areas are left with nowhere else to go, we will tragically see more sleeping in cars, tents and on the street."
Homelessness NSW is calling on the NSW government to set a target of building enough social housing that it makes up one in 10 homes, up from just one in 20 today.
"Building more social housing will not only provide desperate people with a roof over their head, but also help keep rents lower for everyone in the private market," said Ms Rowe.
"Recent investment in social housing in the NSW Budget is a welcome start but we need to build 5,000 new social homes each year. The only thing standing in the way is political will."
More than 68,000 people seek support from specialist homelessness services each year.
More than 56,000 people are on the waitlist for social housing, with a median wait time of just under two years across NSW.
Region |
Median rent $ |
Annual change % |
|
1. |
Sydney - South West |
640 |
16.4 |
2. |
Outer West / Blue Mountains |
580 |
13.7 |
3. |
Sydney - Eastern Suburbs |
895 |
11.9 |
4. |
Sydney - Sutherland |
720 |
10.8 |
5. |
Murray |
420 |
10.5 |
5. |
Sydney - Blacktown |
630 |
10.5 |
7. |
Sydney - Parramatta |
660 |
10.0 |
8. |
North Sydney and Hornsby |
780 |
9.9 |
9. |
Sydney - Northern Beaches |
850 |
9.3 |
10. |
Sydney - Inner West |
750 |
7.1 |
