THE elevated market price of houses has taken its toll on the Mid North Coast region and there is potential for more people to live in poverty because of it.
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The median house price in Sydney currently sits at over a million dollars which is unaffordable for many of those attempting to enter the market.
Treasurer Scott Morrison will address the Urban Development Institute of Australia on October 24 and will state that housing affordability is not just a problem for prospective home buyers.
“As younger people and families are delayed or frustrated in purchasing their first home, this is placing pressure on the private rental market and, in turn, concessional or affordable housing accommodation and ultimately social housing,” he said according to an advance copy of the speech obtained by Fairfax Media.
Community Housing state manager Frank Birkefeld said people living in the metropolitan areas are now looking at moving to areas which are more affordable, such as Port Macquarie.
The town is desirable for a number of reasons including its location (between Brisbane and Sydney),educational opportunities, and an increasing number of flights from the airport.
The waiting time for social and community housing in Port Macquarie is about 10 years but there is the potential for it to increase further.
“That fluctuates and it could be longer than that for some people because realistically the allocation is based on who has the highest need at the time,” Mr Birkefeld said.
As Port Macqaurie is a desirable location people who are on the list for housing have to demonstrate a need to be in the community and that they don’t have the resources to resolve their own needs in the private sector.
The perception that it is only people on low incomes who need affordable housing is incorrect, Mr Birkefeld said.
In Port Macquarie there are a lot of people working in the service sector and tourism industry but can’t afford to pay their rent.
Some of those employees are paying up to 60 per cent of their income in rent.
“People are living pretty close to the wire and you only need one or two events to tip them over the edge,” he said.
Mr Birkefeld is aware of cases where young people are couch surfing between their friends’ houses as they can not afford to pay rent.
“I think we’re going to have a generation now where people won’t aspire to home ownership,” he said.
Another group of people he is concerned about is single older women, who may not have as much savings because they may have stopped working to have children and have been left without income because their partner has passed away.
