Earn less than $80k in Sydney? Good luck finding a rental

Charmaine Enculescu and her flatmate Gemma Dart are on the hunt for a new place to live after their landlord raised the rent for a second time in 13 months. And Ms Enculescu, from Brisbane, is stunned at the poor quality of mouldy rentals in her price range.

Renting a typical one-bedroom unit in Sydney is now “extremely unaffordable” for anyone earning under $80,000, up from $65,000 just a year ago, triggering fears of a mass exodus of younger skilled workers.

This staggering surge – identified in expert research for The Daily Telegraph – means living here has moved beyond the reach of some nurses and is placing enormous financial stress on new teachers, as well as others essential to the proper functioning of the city.

The shock findings have emerged as Premier Chris Minns warns Sydney, and NSW more broadly, is in danger of losing a generation of our “best and brightest” because of spiralling rents.

In an exclusive interview with The Telegraph for the War on the Homefront series, Mr Minns said “it used to be the case when I was in my 20s, people would say ‘will I ever be able to afford to buy a place in Sydney?

“Now the question many people ask is ‘can I ever even afford to rent a place’ and that change has been more acute since I’ve grown up and I’m really concerned about the next generation of young Australians and their ability to find a place to live in a place like NSW.

NSW Premier Chris Minns says the dire rental situation means Sydney risks losing “our best and brightest” to more affordable areas. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

Mr Minns continued: “If we don’t align incentives and give them a place in a town like Sydney, they’ll up and leave.

“We will lose our best and brightest because they are highly skilled, they’ve got wonderful credentials, they can travel the world, they can easily move to another state or another jurisdiction and increasingly they are proving that they are prepared to do it.”

In a separate War on the Homefront story published today, aged-care nurses say they are about to depart Sydney for Brisbane after a huge increase in their rent and an actor who also has a doctorate in molecular biology explains she is plotting a move to New York, citing global analysis that shows the Big Apple is cheaper for housing.

Sydney’s median rent has risen by a record $100 or 20 per cent in the past year, according to analysis of bond data by the Tenants Union of NSW.

Its CEO Leo Patterson Ross said Sydney risked “falling apart” unless action was taken.

Mr Patterson Ross said affordable housing was an essential for life and should be in the same category as having access to clean water, electricity and healthcare.

Sydney’s median rent has risen by a record $100 or 20 per cent in the past year.

If housing near key parts of Sydney became even more expensive, people would face having to travel ever-increasing distances to get to work that affected their ability to function properly on the job, he said.

“When you start talking about paramedics, for example, you don’t want that,” Mr Patterson Ross said.

“We are going to have this issue that the quality of the city does fall apart.”

The research showing that renting a typical one-bedroom unit in Sydney is now “extremely unaffordable” for anyone earning under $80,000, up from $65,000 in 2022, was done by SGS Economics and Planning specifically for The Telegraph.

By comparison, a third-year registered nurse earns about $78,000 in NSW, according to the union.

A first-year public school teacher in NSW has an income of $85,000. A person on that income would find renting a two-bedroom unit extremely unaffordable, according to the SGS analysis.

SGS used median rent costs across Greater Sydney as of June 2023 for its analysis.

SGS also does an annual national rental affordability index and its most recent report, from November 2022, found that a person looking for an affordable two-bedroom home would need to go 20-25km from the CBD to areas such as Fairfield Heights, Punchbowl and Lakemba.

Speaking of the 2023 affordability index, released next month, SGS principal Ellen Witte said “it’s looking really bad, especially for Sydney.”

RENT LAMENT: AM I BEING GASLIGHT BY NSW RIGHT NOW, AND SYDNEY?

Charmaine Enculescu and her flatmate Gemma Dart had just emerged from inspecting a house for rent in Stanmore when I met them for the first time.

They were on the hunt for a new place to live after their landlord raised the rent for a second time in 13 months for a total increase of 34 per cent or $300 a week.

Both are actors. Ms Dart also works in a bar, while Ms Enculescu – who has a PhD in molecular biology – is a research administration officer.

The Stanmore house was not what they were looking for. The mould was one of the turn-offs.

Ms Enculescu, originally from Brisbane, said she had been stunned by the poor quality of Sydney rentals.

“Am I being gaslit by NSW right now, and Sydney?” the 29-year-old asked.

Gemma Dart and Charmaine Enculescu pictured in their new flat in Annandale. The pair moved house after their rent was put up 34 per cent in 13 months. Picture: Julian Andrews

“Yes, you are,” Ms Dart, who is Sydney born and bred, replied.

A few weeks later they found a place they liked nearby.

Fearing another outsized rent rise, they negotiated an annual increase of four per cent. They also got an extra flatmate to contain costs.

Sitting in their new courtyard, Ms Enculescu said she could not see a long-term future for herself in Sydney, citing the rental crisis.

Ms Enculescu originally picked Sydney to move to instead of heading overseas.

She noted that Sydney was recently found to have the sixth-most unaffordable housing among the world’s major cities.

We’re out of here: Ashmita Rijal (left), who is studying a degree in social work, and her sister in law Anuja Bhattarai, who is an aged care nurse, are preparing to move from Burwood to Brisbane after their rent rose by $200 a week or about 35 per cent. Picture: Jonathan Ng

“More expensive than New York and London, which were my other options,” she said.

She now considers Sydney as a “stepping stone.”

“I don’t see any longevity in Sydney, especially with regards to the rental crisis,” she said. “There is no prospect of me ever buying a home here. It’s very unappealing (even though) I love the city.”

Ms Dart, 27, said she had also considered leaving Sydney, for areas such as Melbourne or the Blue Mountains.

“The idea of having to compromise a sense of home and sense of community you have … is yucky if it comes down to a financial reason,” Ms Dart said.

BYE BURWOOD, HI BRISBANE

Aged care nurse Anuja Bhattarai, 29, is preparing to wave goodbye to Sydney and move to Brisbane when her sister-in-law Ashmita Rijal, 25, finishes her social work masters degree in about six months.

Ms Bhattarai’s husband is also an aged-care nurse. The trio’s rent in Burwood recently rose by $200 a week or about 35 per cent.

Ms Bhattarai said renting in Brisbane was more affordable than Sydney but the pay on offer was the same.

“If we are planning to (buy) a house or if we are planning to grow our family, that will be more sustainable (in Brisbane) rather than in Sydney,” she said.

Ms Rijal said they didn’t want to go, “but we are left with no options.”

Ms Bhattarai said: “I really love Sydney, but if I look from the financial side, I can’t afford it.”