Key workers considering moving interstate to overcoming Sydney’s chronic housing crisis

Key workers are at breaking point affording a home in Sydney – with a move interstate preferable to the “torture” of trying to pay off a house here.

Nurses Lucy Anne and Jerwin Jacoba, at home, in South Wentworthville. Picture: Justin Lloyd

Key workers are at breaking point affording a home in Sydney – with a move interstate preferable to the “torture” of trying to pay off a house here.

Wentworthville resident Jerwin Jacoba and wife Lucy – who are both nurses – upsized to a townhouse after the birth of their second child over a year ago.

But the high cost of entering the housing market combined with soaring interest rates since their purchase has left the two crucial workers considering a move interstate – a concern highlighted by the NSW Productivity Commission’s report in February.

That report found that between 2016 and 2021, Sydney lost twice as many people aged 30 to 40 as it gained: while 35,000 came to Sydney, 70,000 left.

Nurses Lucy Anne and Jerwin Jacob have discussed moving interstate if interest rates don’t drop. Picture: Justin Lloyd.

Despite the critical state-wide need for health workers, Jerwin and Lucy now facing leaving NSW after being crushed by Sydney’s housing market – something the Minns government is attempting to rectify with its wide-ranging housing reforms aimed at suppressing prices by boosting supply.

Mr Jacoba said they were already borrowing money from family members to meet their mortgage repayments.

The pair have already discussed a move to Western Australia if interest rates don’t drop.

“We’re looking into what’s going to happen this year, that’s what’s going to make or break if we continue to live here …. if there’s no interest rate cuts soon … it’s not worth subjecting ourselves to torture trying to find where we can get money to pay for this,” he said.

“(Moving to WA) is a big leap for us, there’s a lot of anxiety for us – but we’re kind of hoping it’ll ease the pressure for us that we’re facing here.”

“We’re just keeping our fingers crossed and working as hard as we can.”

Squeeze is on at Kings Langley

When Alan Hansford first moved into his Kings Langley home in 1983, he only had to walk out of his front door to see horses grazing in paddocks across the road.

“Not anymore,” he says.

Since 1983 when the 83-year-old and wife Pauline moved into their current home, the fields surrounding his home have been replaced by the housing boom which continues to result in western Sydney’s population soaring.

The region’s massive changes have been both a good and bad thing, Mr Hansford said.

“When I first moved into the area, everyone from the west was considered ‘a westie’. And much of Sydney looked down on people who lived in western Sydney – that attitude seems to have changed,” he said.

Some things hadn’t kept pace with the booming western suburbs in that time – like public transport.

Alan Hansford, 83, and his wife Pauline, 77, have lived at Kings Langley for more than 40 years. Picture: Rohan Kelly

“We have to drive everywhere. If we want to go by train, we have to drive Seven Hills Station,” he said.

“There’s an enormous amount of extra traffic – there’s a lot more cars parked in the streets. There’s a lot of tolls we have to pay to go anywhere – the M7, the M4, the M2.”

He had more praise for the health system, namely Blacktown Hospital which has been boosted by plans for a $120m upgrade, saying he couldn’t fault them after his wife broke her ankle last year and was treated there.

New analysis by Western Sydney University’s Centre for Western Sydney shows those changes won’t stop coming – with the region’s population to grow by 14 per cent in just 10 years leading up to 2031, up by almost half a million people from 2,596,778 in 2021.

The number of jobs in the region is expected to grow by even more than that – with 1,014,642 in 2021 to 1,279,218 in 2036.

The Western Sydney community is also rapidly becoming more diverse with people born overseas increasing from 38.6 per cent to 40.9 per cent from 2016 to 2021 – something Mr Hansford has seen over the decades.

“It definitely is (changing) – there are a lot of Indian, Sri Lankan people who have moved into the area,” he said.

“It is definitely a changing face for western Sydney.”

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