Chris Dobney
Housing affordability has dropped by six per cent on the north coast over the past 12 months and Byron Bay has fared the worst, with no affordable housing of any kind according to Anglicare Australia.
In the charity’s latest Rental Affordability Snapshot conducted earlier this year, of the properties available there were none in Byron Bay suitable for any of the groups in their 14 needs-based categories.
Ballina scored barely any better, with just five of 51 properties suitable for a couple with two children on the minimum wage and family tax benefits.
In Tweed Heads nine of 55 properties offered were suitable for that category but none for any of the other 13 groups.
Lismore renters fared better, with 26 of 59 properties available to that group and five suitable for couples on an aged pension and singles on the minimum wage.
Single parents might consider moving to Casino, where nine of 43 properties were suitable for them if they at least earned the minimum wage and received family tax benefits.
A couple with two children in the same situation could have afforded 23 of the 43 properties there.
Youth left out in the cold
This still left young people on youth allowance or Newstart in the region out in the cold, literally, even if they proposed sharing with others.
The report described the north coast as ‘economically disadvantaged when compared to both the NSW average and the national average.’
‘Levels of unemployment remain high, with longer than average disengagement from the workforce and an overall lower median household income,’ it said.
Highway workers reduce rental stock
It also suggested that work on the Pacific Highway could have seen further erosion of affordable housing in areas where were was taking place.
‘On one hand this has brought the promise of work for the area and, on the other hand, there is anecdotal evidence of properties becoming harder to access as rents rise in anticipation of the influx of road workers,’ the report continued.
‘Once again, Ballina, Byron Bay… and Tweed Heads remain inaccessible to households on income support, with scant accommodation available for those on the minimum wage.
‘Lismore saw a drop in properties available and, along with Casino… a drop in properties considered affordable and appropriate for those in receipt of minimum wage.
‘Casino alone saw both an increase in properties on the day [of the survey], with a small increase in properties considered affordable and appropriate for most households.
Insecure, inappropriate, unaffordable
The report said that ‘the overarching message from the private rental market’ was ‘insecure, inappropriate and unaffordable housing’.
‘We need to address the mismatch of rent and income, and increase hosing options for lower income, single households if we hope to resolve the ongoing issues in accessing suitable accommodation on the north coast,’ it concluded.
Anglicare has called on state and federal governments to ‘urgently look at ways to increase the supply of affordable and appropriate housing in the north coast of NSW and look at tax reforms to reduce rent prices.’
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
