Housing in NSW


At Shelter NSW, our overriding view is that the combination of housing policies from all levels of Government has produced persistently negative results for the people of NSW, but especially for those in the lowest 40% of income earners.

We are concerned about chronic and rising trends in homelessness, housing rental stress and insecurity as well as the impacts of poor-quality and poorly-designed housing, particularly on low income households.

Over three quarters of lower income renters in NSW are paying unaffordable rents (92% of very-low income renters in Sydney). Lower cost properties are being steadily replaced with new ones at higher rents, and new concentrations of disadvantage have been created across our major cities as low-income households are displaced. The NSW rental market is failing, forcing our most vulnerable citizens to go without essentials as well as contending with insecure tenancies. Climate change is disproportionately impacting lower-income households without the means to afford adaptation measures. 

These trends, while appearing entrenched, are not, we believe, inevitable.

Our vision is of a sustainable housing system that provides secure homes for all.

We believe this can, and needs to, be achieved in three key policy priority areas. We call on all relevant levels of Government to deliver the following for the people of NSW:

The 2023 NSW state election provided an excellent opportunity to prioritise housing affordability and security and the policy and funding framework required to deliver it. You can read our election platform here, with the five key areas we asked to be addressed shown below. These now represent our priorities through to 2027. 

We want to hear from you!

If you have any questions about our work, content to contribute or comments to make on any area of housing policy we would love you to reach out.