Few rental properties are available.Credit:Peter Rae
“There’s not really an end in sight in this tight rental market and rents are likely to continue to move higher.”
Bondi renter Chris Jones,who is looking to move from the eastern suburbs to inner west to find a more affordable home,said rents were rising everywhere.
“I’m finding it astronomical in Bondi ... for a one-bedroom apartment that’s semi-decent,you’re talking $800 at the moment. You seem to get a lot more for your money[in the inner west]. That said,it seems to be an extra $100 or $150 week more than it is normally,” the 40-year-old said.
Chris Jones in Newtown is one of thousands of Sydney residents attending open inspections for a rental property in a very tight rental market.Credit:Janie Barrett
He has seen “terrible,awful quality” Bondi units with a shared laundry asking $750 a week,as well as newer one-bedders asking $795.
“I’ve had bigger hotel rooms. Seriously it was tiny,if you wanted to have a TV,you’d have to have it on the kitchen counter ... there were 100 people queuing up for that.”
Jones said he missed out on the “perfect” unit in Bondi because someone offered $50 more. NSW has banned agents soliciting higher bids,but not tenants offering them.
Tenants Union of NSW chief executive Leo Patterson Ross said rising rents was a vicious cycle,forcing middle-to-low income households out of once-affordable regions of Sydney while others were stuck in unsuitable homes.
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He urged the state government to do more to alleviate the rental crisis,from increasing affordable rental supply to capping rent increases like the ACT. Thenew NSW Labor government plans to remove no-grounds evictions,establish a rental commissioner and increase housing supply.
“There is nothing in the plan to reduce rents relative to income,particularly for lower to middle income,” he said.
ANZ senior economist Adelaide Timbrell also said there would be little relief for tenants in the short term,as rental markets in Sydney and Melbourne remained ultra-tight.
“Housing construction hasn’t kept up with demand,so there’s not enough houses and those that are available are becoming short-term rentals which is also taking houses out of the market,” Timbrell said.
“There will be a short term worsening of availability,so there’s no short-term escape from the challenge of Australian residents demanding more housing and more housing not coming online.”