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Graphic: Rental stress by electorate
Squeeze on renters is getting worse
July 25, 2007 Sydney Morning Herald
MORE than one-third of NSW renters suffer household budgetary stress, with rental payments demanding at least 30 per cent of household incomes.
The rental crisis has spread across the state, with figures from the 2006 census spotlighting the rental burden in the Prime Minister's electorate of Bennelong, across a rash of seats in Sydney's west and on the North Coast.
In Bennelong, which takes in Gladesville, Ryde, Eastwood and Epping among others, rent chews up more than 30 per cent of income for 4500 households, or 40 per cent of households that rent.
And in Blaxland, which includes Bankstown, Lakemba and Punchbowl, nearly half of all households that rent send more than 30 per cent of income to their landlord.
Rents have soared over the past year due to tight-as-a-drum vacancy rates and stagnant property construction. In Sydney, construction of flats and houses has sunk to a historical trough. This has meant little fresh housing supply to meet the strong demand caused by population growth.
But in a sign that high rents may be luring investors back to property, Sydney's median unit price has bounced back after a slump. The median price rose 2.2 per cent in the June quarter to $362,181 after reaching a post-housing boom low in the March quarter, new figures from Australian Property Monitors show.
The Prime Minister, John Howard, said rents and prices had to rise because no nation would have idle property available the moment there was an increase in demand. "It is impossible to have that fairytale equilibrium in any kind of economy," he said.
But Labor says more should be done to encourage investment in affordable rental accommodation, and has touted a savings scheme with tax advantages to help families save for a deposit.
Sydney residents moving to the coast are dragging the rental crisis with them. A spokesman for Australians for Affordable Housing, David Imber, said "sea- changers" had driven up rents in many towns and squeezed local residents onto the fringes.
"But in some ways how could you blame them?" he asked. "Some of them are being forced out of the city area. They're styling it as a choice but really they've been pushed out."
More than 57 per cent of households in the federal electorate worst hit by the rental burden, Richmond, which takes in Byron Bay, Murwillumbah and Tweed Heads, spend over 30 per cent of their income on rent, according to the figures, collated by Labor and based on the last census.
A Macquarie Bank economist, Rory Robertson, said investors had tried to get more out of renters in the past year because of the slump in some property prices.
Still, robust price gains in the north, east and inner-west of Sydney helped push the city's median house price up 1 per cent to $528,533 in the June quarter.
But a senior manager at the research company BIS Shrapnel, Jason Anderson, said there was an average 18-month lag until new apartments were completed, meaning no immediate salve for the rental pain.
Patrick Ewin, a worker with the Western Sydney Tenants' Service, said he was not surprised suburbs such as Penrith, Blacktown and Richmond were among the worst hit by rent rises. "We have had people getting hit with increases ranging from $5 to $160 a week and every 60 days the landlords are able to hit the tenants with another increase," he said.
Residents who refuse to pay find themselves in an already stretched market, where agents are prepared to auction rental properties to the highest bidder.
"There are a lot of properties that are substandard and could be seen as uninhabitable and even those premises are being rented out at huge prices," he said.
"The fact is that in the isolated areas such as Richmond, where there are only two or three real estate agents, they have less competition and can keep rents high."
With the cost of housing swelling as an election issue, Labor will hold a day-long summit in Canberra tomorrow with housing industry and welfare groups. |
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发表于 2007-1-20 08:26
