The Rental Affordability Snapshot (RAS) was originally developed by the Social Action Research Centre at Anglicare Tasmania to highlight the lived experience of looking for housing whilst on a low income. An audit of rental properties determines the extent to which on the nominated day a person on a low income is able to find housing that is both affordable and appropriate for their needs. The RAS has been coordinated by the national peak body, Anglicare Australia. This data relates to Sydney and the Illawara.
In April 2015, with the aim of highlighting the difficulty in finding an affordable and appropriate rental property for low income households. As part of this national project, Anglicare Sydney examined about 15,000 rental advertisements in Greater Sydney (including the Central Coast) and the Illawarra, over the weekend of the 11th April, using online and print media. The total number of listings has increased from more than 13,000 properties in the 2014 Snapshot and almost 14,000 properties in 2013. Results were sorted into 17 smaller Statistical Areas for analysis and reporting purposes. The findings revealed that for many households, finding appropriate and affordable housing is almost impossible.
Affordability of rental properties for people on income support: These households include single parents, people living with a disability, the elderly and frail aged, full-time students, and people struggling to find paid employment. For income support recipients, finding an affordable and appropriate rental dwelling which costs less than 30 percent of their household income is a difficult challenge, with few low-cost, private rental dwellings being available. If 2-bedroom properties were excluded for families with more than one child, there were only 52 unique properties in Greater Sydney and 19 in the Illawarra that were affordable and appropriate without placing them into rental stress (paying over 30 percent of income on rent). If the criteria were widened to include 2-bedroom properties for families with 2 children then 58 properties in Greater Sydney and 33 properties in the Illawarra were affordable and appropriate. Compared with previous results, the number of suitable rental properties (58) was similar in Greater Sydney (43 properties in 2014), although this remains less than one percent of total advertised properties. The number of affordable and appropriate properties in the Illawarra region (33) was also similar to 2014 (38 properties) and 2013 (42 properties). The vast majority of affordable and appropriate properties were located in the Outer Ring of Sydney (at least 20km from the CBD). It is concerning that there were no rental properties in Sydney that were suitable for single people on Youth Allowance, Disability Pension or Newstart without placing them into rental stress.
Affordability of rental properties for minimum wage households: Rental affordability was also examined for those people earning the minimum wage, including couple families, single parents and single people. If 2-bedroom properties were excluded for families with more than one child, there were 868 unique properties in Greater Sydney and 261 in the Illawarra that were affordable and appropriate without placing them into rental stress. If the criteria were widened to include 2-bedroom properties for families with 2 children then 2,302 properties in Greater Sydney and 521 properties in the Illawarra were affordable and appropriate. Compared with previous results, the number of suitable rental properties for people on the minimum wage has increased in Greater Sydney (up from 1,799 properties in 2014), while it has remained the same in the Illawarra Region (509 properties in 2014). While all Statistical Areas in Sydney contained at least one suitable property, the majority were still located further away from the CBD in areas such as the Central Coast, Blue Mountains or in South Western Sydney.
Payment of 30-45% of income as rent: Anglicare Sydney also explored the availability of rental properties in the 30-45%-of-income band that would place a household into rental stress. Using this criterion, there were 1,148 additional suitable listings in Greater Sydney and 310 in the Illawarra, where households relying on income support would have spent between 30 and 45 percent of their income. For households earning the minimum wage, there were 5,121 additional suitable listings in Greater Sydney and 298 in the Illawarra in the 30-45%-of-income band.
A range of policy solutions are needed to improve rental affordability for low income households, including the urgent need for increases in the supply of social housing, raising the rate of Commonwealth Rent Assistance and increasing the Newstart Allowance. There needs to be firm and long-term commitment to the supply of affordable housing from all levels of government, community and business sectors.
