The unaffordability of housing in the Illawarra is driving those on low incomes from the region, with an influx of migration pricing out poorer residents.
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Jenna Doyle moved to the Illawarra six years ago from Canberra.
Having recently suffered a stroke, Ms Doyle found there were limited support services in the nation's capital.
"Everyone's a public servant, and everyone's happy - of course - and there's no mental health services to help you out down there," she said.
Moving to the Illawarra, Ms Doyle originally found a home in Berkeley before putting down roots in Port Kembla.
At the time, regional NSW was relatively affordable, with a rental affordability index score of "acceptable", according to the rental affordability index published by SGS Economics and Planning in partnership with housing advocacy bodies.
The postcodes of 2505 and 2502, covering Port Kembla and Warrawong ranked as "moderately unaffordable", but were the most affordable in the Illawarra region.
With the support she needed, Ms Doyle was able to immerse herself in Port Kembla, finding her community.
"Everyone was so welcoming, and it was affordable," she said.
"The people make Wollongong."
Ms Doyle made particular mention of Illawarra Rainbow Families and Queers Down South as welcoming her into her new home, as well as NDIS support services Every Human and Disability Illawarra.
As Ms Doyle got to know her new surrounds, the place she called home became progressively more affordable. In the last quarter of 2019, Port Kembla's rental affordability index increased, moving into the "acceptable" range.
However this was upended in 2021, as affordability took a nosedive. In the second quarter of 2022, the latest data available, Port Kembla ranked as "unaffordable", the first time the area had reached that level across a decade of data.
The reason for the change was the move south of highly paid knowledge workers from Sydney, who removed themselves from the inner city to work remotely from the northern suburbs of the Illawarra.
According to figures from the Commonwealth Bank and the Regional Australia Institute (RAI), Wollongong was the LGA with the fourth largest share of regional migration in the year to December 2021.
This trend pushed existing residents further south, raising prices and rents in traditionally more affordable areas such as Port Kembla, Windang and Lake Illawarra.
This led to high rates of rental stress across the region, with a report from Shelter NSW outlining that Wollongong and Shellharbour ranked among the highest for low income households facing rental stress of any LGA in NSW.
This has now begun to precipitate a move the other way, however this time it is those on the lower end of the income scale who are making the move, and not by choice.
Last week, after her rent rose by over 40 per cent, Ms Doyle made a decision she did not want to make.
After struggling to pay for basic necessities, having the rent jacked up was the final straw, and Ms Doyle has moved to a shared house in the Hunter region.
After moving at the weekend, Ms Doyle is positive about her new home, but says nothing will compare to where she was previously.
"In Port Kembla, there's a big sense of community, everyone looks after one another and everyone stops and chats," she said.
"I used to sit on the front porch and watch the steelworks flames - all those good things.
"I might be back in a couple of years."
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