Soaring rents increase homelessness concerns

The Central Coast has recorded the ninth highest rent increases in the state over the past year.

With a 4.6% rise in average rents over the past 12 months, the Central Coast came in ninth on a table of the Top 10 regions for rent increases released by Homelessness NSW.

The top three regions for rent increases were Tamworth (12%), the Murray Region (10%) and the Hunter 8.1%), according to SQM Research data.

Seven of the top 10 areas for rent increases are outside Sydney.

“Rents soared in the regions during the COVID-19 pandemic and now we are seeing them take off once more,” Homelessness NSW CEO Dominique Rowe said.

“This gives us great concern that more people will be forced into homelessness because they cannot afford the roof over their heads.

“In regional areas there is already a dire shortage of social housing, and homelessness services are severely unfunded and overwhelmed.

“When you add surging rents into the mix, we’ve got a recipe for disaster.”

The news follows a report by ACOSS, released during anti-poverty week, which found that rising rents were a major cause of increased poverty rates.

The number of people sleeping rough across the state has soared 66%, from 1,314 in 2020 to 2,192 in 2025.

“Homelessness and rough sleeping are rising rapidly in many regional areas,” Rowe said.

“The government must invest more in homelessness services and urgently build more social housing which is at historically low levels.”