See the mess is beginning to...

See the mess is beginning to unravel.....


http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/stor...5001021,00.html

Rental disaster looms

RENTS in western Sydney are spiralling out of control, increasing by more than 25 per cent in a year, new figures show.

At the same time, the number of units and houses available for rent continued to plunge.
Just over 44,000 new rental bonds were lodged in a city with a population of more than four million.

The figures, obtained exclusively by The Sunday Telegraph from the NSW Department of Housing, are set to dominate the agenda of this month's National Housing Conference, which is aimed at resolving the State's housing crisis.

The median rent for an average property in Sydney is now $350 a week _ an increase of $20 since the September quarter.

The greatest rent increases occurred in typically working-class suburbs.

Auburn recorded the single biggest increase, with families renting two bedroom flats paying 25.9 per cent more than they were mid-2007.

The inner-west suburb of Marrickville recorded the next biggest increase with rents rising by 25 per cent.

Families renting properties in the blue-collar suburb of Canterbury were also hit hard, with increases of 21.9 per cent.

The only affluent suburb to experience a major rent hike was Mosman, where tenants are now paying 17.2 per cent more than they did last quarter.

The figures have triggered calls from welfare groups for urgent intervention by both state and federal governments.

National Council of Social Service (NCOSS) NSW director Alison Peters said the situation was critical and families across all income levels were struggling.

For families on the bottom rung, the situation is dire, she said.

The organisation has called on both governments to increase social housing stock for those families who can no longer afford to pay market rents.

"It's pretty desperate - for every family that is finding it hard to pay rent, it is a disaster,'' Ms Peters said.

"You have people who, in years gone by, would have qualified for public housing - and now they don't even qualify any more.

"We are talking about lots and lots of families with nowhere to stay - what we need is to increase the overall pool of social housing and that means more funding from government."

The figures were compiled from bonds lodged with the NSW Rental Bond Board.

In Sydney, tenants are now paying $40 more per week than they were last year.

In the suburbs, rents are around $30 higher.

Across Sydney's 43 local government areas (LGAs), more than half recorded increases of at least 10 per cent for two bedroom units.

The department's report noted that, in some areas, rents have risen every four months for more than a year.

"Ryde, Sydney, Parramatta, Holroyd and Warringah have each recorded five consecutive quarterly increases," the report said.

"Twenty-eight of the 43 LGAs within Sydney recorded annual increases of 10 per cent or more, representing 82 per cent of the two bedroom flat/units rental market in Sydney."

Rents for two bedroom houses also rose considerably, with 11 LGAs recording increases of more than 10 per cent.

The biggest rent rises for two bedroom houses were recorded in Rockdale (25 per cent increase), Holroyd (21.7 per cent),