Anglicare’s ‘Rental Affordability Snapshot’ analysed 1051 properties that were available in the Illawarra and Shoalhaven/Southern Highlands on the weekend of March 24-25, 2018.

The study found there were more rental listings on the Snapshot weekend for 2018 than on any of the equivalent Snapshot weekends in 2014-2017. There were 27 per cent more listings in the Illawarra on the Snapshot weekend in 2018 than in 2017. 

“The greater number of listings is likely to reflect the record number of dwelling completions in recent years,” the report notes. “The greater number of listings would also reflect the relentless growth of the private rental sector in recent decades.”

Meanwhile, Susan King, head of research and advocacy at Anglicare said the Snapshot highlights the shortage of affordable private rental accommodation in the Illawarra region.

“Households that rely only on income support payments are still finding it difficult to compete for a very small pool of affordable private rental properties,” she said. 

According to the 2018 report, of the 1051 properties advertised, only 16 were affordable and appropriate for households on government income support payments without placing them in rental stress. 

Rental stress occurs when more than 30 per cent of a low-income household’s income is spent on rent. 

Of the 16 properties in the region, only five suitable rental properties were in or close to Wollongong.

The 2018 snapshot shows that no rental properties in Sydney and the Illawarra were affordable and appropriate for single people on Newstart or Youth Allowance.

Couples who were both receiving the Aged Pension had the most number of properties that were suitable and affordable for them in the Illawarra region (13).

Only small numbers of suitable properties were found for couples with children where both partners receive the Newstart Allowance (four properties).

There were no suitable properties for single parents on the Parenting Payment or Newstart Allowance.

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More properties were available where households were prepared to spend 30 to 45 per cent of income, such as couple families on the Newstart Allowance (193), Aged Pension couples (153) and single parents on the Parenting Payment with two children (89).

Very small increases were noted for single parents with a child on the Parenting Payment (23) and for single parents on the Newstart Allowance (two). 

For minimum wage households, of the 1051 properties available for private rent, 380 unique properties were affordable and appropriate without placing these households into rental stress.

Single parents with two children on the minimum wage were only able to afford 33 dwellings, and single persons earning the minimum wage had only three affordable and appropriate housing options at their disposal.

A couple family earning the minimum wage and Parenting Payment would have been able to afford 96 appropriate properties. 

Ms King said another aspect of the report’s analysis covered websites related to share accommodation. 

She said there was an increase in people who are “single and increasingly vulnerable looking at websites where instead of renting a one-bedroom unit or a room, it’s now rent-a-bed”.

Ms King said this was an emerging trend they’d observed throughout Sydney and the Illawarra over the past 12 months. 

“Basically they’re paying what you’d call unsustainable rents for a bed in a room, not a room itself... And we think that’s really problematic,” she said.

Read More: Call for council to act over city's growing 'homelessness crisis'

Social housing action needed 

Anglicare have also called for action to address the state’s “social housing crisis”.

The report notes there are almost 56,000 approved applicants for public and community housing waiting on the NSW Housing Register. 

Waiting times for general applicants on the register in Greater Sydney and the Illawarra are either five to 10 years, or more than 10 years in most allocation zones.

The study proposes the state government fund the provision of essential social housing stock, and commit to targets for both affordable and social housing in the Sydney and Illawarra regions for the next five to ten years.

“The sale of any social housing stock must be replenished with similar new dwellings (with the same number or more bedrooms) and in the same Local Government Area to ensure that there is a mix of social housing across the city with integrated communities," the report said.