The Central Coast is facing a deepening housing crisis, with rising rental and mortgage stress, and a growing social housing shortfall, according to Everybody’s Home.
Everybody’s Home is a national campaign launched in 2018 by a coalition of housing, homelessness and welfare organisations to achieve the change needed so everybody has a safe and decent place to live.
It’s latest report says that while housing affordability is a national issue, the electorates of Robertson and Dobell are facing distinct housing challenges with people waiting over a decade for social housing, rents unaffordable across the electorate and rates of mortgage stress high.
Housing affordability is further strained by lower incomes and fewer job opportunities compared to capital cities, the report says.
The homelessness rate in Robertson stands at 16.6 per 10,000 people, with 253 individuals experiencing homelessness, according to Census data.
In Dobell there are 498 homeless individuals.
This includes people living in improvised dwellings or tents, or sleeping outdoors, as well as those in supported accommodation or staying temporarily with others.
“Without intervention to address affordability challenges, the risk of homelessness may continue to grow,” the report says.
The data highlights an ongoing need for targeted housing support, ensuring that those at risk of homelessness have access to stable, affordable housing options.
Households in Robertson needing social housing number 4,900, with 5,700 household in Dobell in need.
Average waiting time in the region is more than 10 years.
“This indicates a significant shortfall in available social housing, leaving many low-income residents without access to stable and affordable accommodation,” the report says.
“A critical issue is the long waiting time for social housing.
“This prolonged delay forces many eligible households into precarious living situations, including overcrowded housing, temporary accommodation, or the private rental market, where affordability challenges are severe.
“The extended wait times suggest that existing social housing stock is insufficient to meet current demand, leading to greater financial stress and housing insecurity for vulnerable residents.”
The report says approximately 95% of renters in Robertson are experiencing financial stress, with renters comprising about 43% of the total population.
In Dobell, 84.6% of renters are experiencing financial stress.
On the mortgage front, a significant number of households are under mortgage stress (28.5% in Robertson and 42.7% in Dobell) with a considerable portion of income directed towards mortgage repayments.
maybe the homeless people might have to move from a seachange to bush change where housing is much more affordable & the bonus is there’s no work there so they can continue to sponge of each other.
lol where in the trees is housing more affordable these days you need to go to lightn ing ridge or Andamooka
God forbid you ever fall on hard times and have to uproot yourself from your friends, family and support networks to go live in a rural area with much fewer opportunities and housing that is still in most cases astronomically priced.
Not everybody who is homeless is ‘sponging’ and most people are closer to it than they realise. It could be due to health issues,fleeing domestic violence, disability, or just an economy that is getting increasingly harder to afford to live in.
I hope you sleep well at night in a warm bed in a safe home, not everybody is so lucky.
yes they should move to the bush no work but they are getting free rent lake side view at the entrance
this comment goes to a Jennifer Boughton I read your comment you cold hearted b..ch I’m not one of those people who are homeless I have my own home just one day bad that might come your way and you could find yourself out on the street as well and I’ll be the first person to tell you go out to the bush and you can sponge off one another then it will come back and bite you on the ass one day lady I was brought up to have empathy and compassion and people are doing it really tough out there it might help you’d have empathy and compassion you must you must have had a really bad up bringing when you were a child teenager adult do not have any compassion or empathy the miserable xxx and to the people that are homeless to the single mothers and the parents and the and all others stay strong because you’re not alone out there go and ask all your local member of parliament up here annoy the s*** out of them until they can figure something out for you because they’re good at passing the buck
what a xxx
a lot of homless are homeless because of not been able to afford higher rents ask God for forgiveness, should be ashamed
There has been 3 empty 3 bedroom housing commission houses near me for a while now. They are just sitting there empty .One has been empty for about 4 months. God knows how many more there are.
wow just wow … have you not seen the new demographic of homeless people? It’s working families also being impacted. And what sort of privileged life have you lived that makes you feel so entitled to judge anyone and everyone? It’s hard to believe anyone can be so clueless.
Jennifer Boughton, what a clown…that’s the answer is it,just push the problem onto country folk..
Jennifer Broughton, what an ignorant statement. Instead of putting down people, why not show sone empathy. Do you know some employed people are also homeless too, because it’s become that unaffordable for many. Something needs to change, because it’s only going to get worse.