Rental Properties

: Key points:About 1 per cent of rental properties are available to people on welfare Of 15,000 NSW rental properties available in April, 76 were affordable on government benefits Availability has been consistently low for four years Declining number of rental properties available in the Illawarra region Anglicare Sydney annual Rental Affordability Snapshot reviewed approximately 15,000 properties that were available on the first weekend of April 2016, according to Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Only 76 were affordable and appropriate for households on income support payments without placing them into "rental stress", the Anglicare report said. Map: Sydney 2000 New figures show less than 1 per cent of rental properties in Greater Sydney and the Illawarra are now within the financial reach of those on government support payments. There were no properties for single people and single parents on the Newstart Allowance, Disability Support Pension, or Youth Allowance. But Mr Millard said the current snapshot revealed availability had vastly deteriorated in the Illawarra region, which included the Shoalhaven and Southern Highlands. "Two years ago just under 5 per cent of all advertised properties were available for people on government income support payments without putting them into rental stress, but now it getting almost as bad as Sydney, about 1 per cent," he said. "Distressingly included in that cohort is people who are on single income aged pension, there was not one property advertised in the Illawarra Shoalhaven area available." Mr Millard said the lack of affordable rental properties on the market was deepening the problem of rental stress, where people spend more than 30 per cent of their income on rent, and was putting them on the verge of homelessness. "Many people on Newstart have to go well in excess of 45 per cent," he said. "Clearly that totally unsustainable so people have to cut corners, they can't feed themselves, can't feed their family, can't afford medication when necessary, in terms of travelling for job seeking you just can't do that. "We have clients trying to live on $30 a week or less after their rental payment." Wollongong 'Newstart' recipients living in backpacker hostels Anglicare annual snapshots reflect the decline in affordability in the Illawarra region over the past several years, with the number of affordable properties dropping from 4 per cent in 2014 to 1 per cent. Anglicare chief executive Grant Millard said rental affordability in Greater Sydney for low income households had been consistently low for the past four years, hovering at less than 1 per cent. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.