Tent city shines light on Sydney’s housing crisis

By Leith van Onselen

Bloomberg has published an interesting article on the tent city that has sprung up in Martin Place in Sydney, just outside the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) headquarters:

On the doorstep of Australia’s premier economic institution, a camp of about three-dozen tents and a kitchen has come to symbolize the housing affordability crisis gripping Sydney…

The camp outside the RBA’s Martin Place headquarters started late last year as a “safe space” for homeless women who feared for their safety and has since become a landing point for people down on their luck. Campers are being supported by local cafes, cooking and donations from church groups and assistance from passers by, according to organizers…

“It’s just crazy. The rent is just crazy,” said 40-year old Metcalfe, noting a 1-bedroom unit can cost A$600 ($480) a week before water and power costs. “Most wages are only A$700-A$800 a week. Prices are just astronomical”…

The housing crisis is playing out against the backdrop of a rising debate about inequality in Australia…

“Sydney’s problem is a chronic shortage of affordable housing,” says Lanz Priestly, who formed the original camp in December and has worked with the homeless for decades…

Meanwhile, NSW Premier, Gladys Berejiklian, has asked Sydney lord mayor, Clover Moore, to “move them on” noting that homeless people sleeping rough in Sydney’s city centre made her “completely uncomfortable”.

Sadly, the growing homeless problem is symbolic of the affordability crisis afflicting Sydney.

As revealed in the latest Census, “rental stress” – defined as a household spending more than 30% of their income on rent – increased significantly in Sydney between 2011 and 2016, and is also the highest in the nation:

April’s rental affordability snapshot from Anglicare also revealed that 95% of Sydney’s rental housing is unnaffordable for low income earners.

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