Upper Hunter rents jump 12 per cent, forcing families into impossible choices
Upper Hunter rents jumped almost 12 per cent in just one year, forcing families to choose between essentials and housing.
Rents across the Hunter region have soared faster than inflation. Weekly unit rents in the Upper Hunter rose $47, from $407 to $454.
Dungog rents increased from $413 to $450. Lake Macquarie unit rents grew $41.
Port Stephens rents rose $41. Newcastle's rents grew almost 5 per cent.
Social housing has a waiting list of 70,000 people who wait up to a decade on average for a spot. Income support has grown about 23 per cent over five years.
Rents have jumped about 48 per cent. One of the fastest-growing groups of people experiencing homelessness is women aged 55 and over.
Homelessness NSW called for NSW to adopt the ACT's rent cap of inflation plus 10 per cent to protect tenants from steep hikes.
- 47 dollars per week
- Upper Hunter weekly rent rise
- 70,000 people
- Social housing waitlist
- Up to a decade
- Average waitlist time
Why it mattersA $50 weekly rent rise is the difference between affording essentials and losing a home for households already stretched by cost-of-living pressure.
AustraliaHunter renters are caught between unaffordable private rentals and years-long social housing waitlists, a crisis spreading across NSW's regional rental markets.
✓ Claims checked against the source and corrected before publish. checked 27 d ago
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