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Sydney housing emergency ‘enormous’

Nearly one in five households in Fairfield are said to be struggling to make ends meet.

Nearly one in five households in Fairfield are said to be struggling to make ends meet. Photo: AAP

More than one in 10 households in Sydney’s southwest are unable to meet surging living costs including rent.

Over 12.7 per cent of families and individuals living in suburbs southwest of the city are experiencing housing stress, according to data commissioned by the Community Housing Industry Association.

The figures, from the University of NSW City Futures Research Centre, measure rental hardship, overcrowding and the number of people experiencing homelessness.

Close to one in five households in Fairfield, or 5400 residences, are not able to afford housing needs.

The top 10 worst-affected NSW locations are all in Sydney, spread across the west, southwest and southern suburbs including Fairfield, Bankstown, Auburn, Cabramatta, Granville, Liverpool, Canterbury, Strathfield, Parramatta and Kogarah.

The data paints a picture of how Sydney is continuing to socially fracture, the association’s NSW CEO Mark Degotardi said.

“Your postcode should not determine whether you live in housing crisis,” he said on Monday.

“The scale of this housing emergency is just enormous and it deserves an urgent response from the state government to address it.

“This is a wakeup call to the incoming NSW government – you cannot continue to sit idly by while tens of thousands of everyday families and individuals struggle to find or keep their home.”

The findings come 61 days out from the NSW election, with he major parties pledging to address the crisis.

Late last year, the government banned real estate agents soliciting rental bidding from prospective tenants, making offending agents and corporations subject to hefty fines.

Labor has promised to end no faults evictions and ban secret rental bidding, commit to introducing a portable bond scheme between rentals, and establishing a rental commissioner who can advocate for tenant rights.

An immediate freeze on rental prices and also support for an end to no grounds evictions has been urged by the Greens.

– AAP

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