Picture: ANDREW KACIMAIWAI
Can’t buy, can’t rent: The Sydney housing market is fast becoming out of reach for essential workers and their families.
A new report from the Property Council of Australia says workers like teachers, nurses, police and childcare workers have been priced out of Greater Sydney.
Property Council of Australia NSW Executive Director Katie Stevenson says their new research compares median incomes and housing costs in 2024 with the last major housing crisis in 2007.
It reveals many workers now face housing costs significantly more than 30 per cent of their household income.
“Greater Sydney’s housing market is fast becoming a no-go zone for essential workers and their families,” she says.
“Recent reforms can help us in the long-term but we are in a crisis now, and that requires creative solutions to build many more homes faster.”
She pointed to Parramatta as an example: “…. while the average household income for essential workers increased by 87 per cent since 2007, median unit prices increased 93 per cent and house prices 248 per cent over the same period.
“Weekly rents in Parramatta increased 121 per cent and 117 per cent for a house and unit, respectively,” she says.
Stevenson says the council report includes recommendations that could allow more affordable housing to be built.
These recommendations include:
- a more streamlined planning process:
- lower taxes, charges, and compliance costs:
- cutting approval times by at least six months:
- rezoning affordable housing near transport hubs; and
- financial incentives to build new housing for essential workers.
“We also need government to accelerate the release of surplus or under-used publicly owned land for residential development … and commit to a moratorium on new development charges,” she says.
The report examines the affordability of new and established homes and apartments across 12 local government areas (LGAs), measuring median incomes against housing costs.
“The research paints a dramatic and depressing picture – no essential worker living on their own can afford to buy or rent a median-priced home or unit in most areas,” Stevenson says.
“For dual-income families with an average gross income of $160,000, purchasing an established home is considered beyond reach, and house and land packages are increasingly out of reach.”
The report warns that NSW risks losing more essential workers to other states or sectors where housing is more affordable.
