Sydney's Mount Druitt rated on rental affordability index

Sydney's Mount Druitt rated on rental affordability index
Jonathan ChancellorDecember 7, 2020

Mount Druitt and Silverdale were the two identified affordable rental suburbs closest to the Sydney central business district, according to Australia's first rental affordability index.

These involve a commute of more than 50km, with the index naming the most affordable area in the greater Sydney region as Black Springs, almost 200km from the central business district near Oberon.

The index is a joint project between peak housing advocate National Shelter, Community Sector Banking and SGS Economics & Planning.

NSW households on average weekly earnings of $1474 have to spend 28% of their income to rent in Sydney, the report found, or close to the inner city more than 60% of their income towards rent,

The report concluded they faced severe housing stress which is defined as spending more than 30% of total income on housing.

Melbourne is the most affordable capital city in Australia for average income households looking to rent, according the report.

The average household in Greater Melbourne would have to outlay 24 per cent of their income if they were to rent. Caldermeade and Melton West were ranked the most affordable.

While most attention on home ownership, the index seeks to show renters face a greater challenge than homeowners when it comes to keeping a roof over their heads.

Adrian Pisarski, executive officer of housing affordability organisation Shelter Australia, said a low income family on $500 a week faces spending 65% of their income on rent in NSW, the most unaffordable state.

Mr Pisarski told the ABC almost all renters in Sydney were "on the threshold" of housing stress.

"Effectively, the only affordable rental [for low-income earners] in Sydney is west of Blacktown," he said.

"The inner-city, as people would imagine, is completely unaffordable.

"That [unaffordable area] spreads right up and down the coast and even to most of the coastal regions of New South Wales, and even places like Orange and Dubbo are not very affordable either."

The situation is marginally better elsewhere, with Queensland and Tasmania taking up 54%, South Australia 59% and Western Australia 57%.

Louise Pratt, from Shelter WA said maps of rental affordability across the State showed the North West, Broome, parts of the South West and most of Perth was unaffordable.

The report found the most affordable areas in greater Hobart to be Collinsvale, Derwent Park and Clarendon Vale, with the least affordable areas listed as Clifton Beach, Taroona and Old Beach.

Jonathan Chancellor

Jonathan Chancellor is one of Australia's most respected property journalists, having been at the top of the game since the early 1980s. Jonathan co-founded the property industry website Property Observer and has written for national and international publications.

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