Social Futures chief executive Tony Davies said in the past 18 months his service had seen a rise in people being homeless for purely economic reasons rather than traditional causes of homelessness,such as mental health problems.
“They’re working people who cannot even get a rental because rental vacancies are well below 1 per cent in the[Northern Rivers] region,and in the coastal areas like Byron and Tweed,they sit around 0.3 per cent,” Mr Davies said. “There’s just nothing to rent and certainly nothing affordable.”
An influx of Sydneysiders seeking a sea change or buying holiday homes since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic has pushed up median house prices to $2.29 million in the Byron Bay township,according to Domain’s House Price Report for September 2021. In Byron Shire,house prices are now $1.55 million,a rise of 34.8 per cent in a year and 112 per cent in five years,while units have grown 50.6 per cent in a year to $1.18 million.
Byron Shire Mayor Michael Lyon said the area had the “worst housing emergency in Australia”.
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“We’ve got people in severe housing stress;families sleeping in cars and on lounge room floors,older people,proud people and single parents who can’t afford to be homeless because they might lose their children,” Cr Lyon said. “These numbers are hidden and getting worse.”
Cr Lyon said Byron Shire had more than 4000 dwellings on short-term rental platforms such as Airbnb,more than the long-term rental stock. The council area only had 16,000 dwellings overall,with most being owner-occupied.
He hopes Planning Minister Rob Stokes will allow the council to cap short-term rentals at 90 days a year rather than the 180 days that applies elsewhere in the state. A decision is due by February.
Mr Davies said despite having 30 per cent of the state’s rough sleepers,the Northern Rivers only attracted 6-7 per cent of the state’s homelessness funding. While 5 per cent of housing in NSW was public housing,in the Northern Rivers it was closer to 3 per cent,he said.
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“We have this absolutely shameful under-investment in social housing and governments keep saying ‘we can’t afford to build because[Byron’s] property values are so high’,” Mr Davies said. “The reality is we have people that have lived in the community for a long time ... and it’s unreasonable to think that people have to move somewhere else.”
He added there was nowhere to go since all of regional NSW was suffering a rental crisis,afterrecord regional migration during the pandemic. Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show regional NSW had net population growth of 13,850 in the 12 months to the end of March 2021.
Alister Henskens,NSW Minister for Families,Communities and Disability Services,said the government had bolstered services and support for homelessness during the pandemic,including in the Northern Rivers.
“We are investing in the nation-leading Together Home program in the Northern Rivers,to help rough sleepers into secure housing with wrap-around support to address their complex issues,” Mr Henskens said.
“We are also working closely with community housing providers to build more housing,and continue to invest in housing solutions for people to maintain or secure tenancies in the private rental market.”
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