‘This s**t isn’t sustainable’: Crushing reality Sydney renters face in search of home

Property experts are calling on the government to intervene in the country’s housing crisis after photos emerged revealing the sad reality renters face in Sydney.

In a sign Sydney’s rental crisis is deepening, new photos have highlighted the distressing reality the state’s renters currently face in their search for a home.

Depressing photos shared online show dozens of prospective renters waiting in a line that weaves around a building’s courtyard and stairway, in hope they’ll get to inspect a single inner-city Sydney apartment.

Based on the post’s comments, it’s believed the property catching everyone’s interest is a one-bedroom apartment on Mandible Street in Alexandria available for $540 a week.

It's believed this one-bedroom apartment in Alexandria was the centre of attention, advertised for $540 per week. Picture: Ray White Surry Hills

The stylish apartment is advertised to be only a stone’s throw away from a “vibrant cafe and restaurant culture”, a strip of supermarkets and renowned venue The grounds of Alexandria.

“Enjoy the convenience of having an array of express bus services covering access to the CBD, airport and beaches and walk to Green Square Station in minutes,” reads the apartment’s ad on RayWhite’s website.

Additionally, the apartment boasts large windows for natural light, a generously-sized entertainment balcony, laundry facilities, and the building itself contains its own gardens and pool.

But while the apartment may have everything these prospective renters are looking for, the reality is only one interested group will be successful in calling the humble space their home.

“Must be scary when you‘re looking for a place to live and those are the lines. That just shows you how quickly you can go from comfortable to homeless,” one sympathetic social media user commented on the post.

Meanwhile another labelled the situation a “soul destroying experience”.

“Waiting around for an hour thinking “I hope no surgeons or barristers apply for this place too’,” they commented.

A third said: “something’s going (to) have (to) break soon, this s**t isn’t sustainable”.

Pictures have emerged showing dozens of prospective-renters lining up for metres in hope of inspecting a Sydney property. Picture: Reddit / PT4rd

The increase in renters seeking new homes comes following a surge in weekly rental rates across the country.

Last year, advertised rental prices rose by 6.7 per cent, up from an increase of 4.7 per cent over the 2021 calendar year according to market insight platform PropTrack.

Meanwhile, the median rate for Sydney renters is the highest across the states – excluding the ACT which had the highest median rental prices in December.

The median weekly rent for a house in Sydney is $630, followed by $530 per week for a unit and $560 for a dwelling.

Then in regional NSW, the median rents are still quite pricey, sitting between $420 to $500 a week depending on the type of property.

With renters unable to keep up with rising rents in conjunction with leasing contracts ending, Sydneysiders are seeing more people lining up for rental inspections across the suburbs than ever before.

Cameron Kusher, PropTrack Director Economic Research and author of the December Market Insight report, said rental costs will be “something to watch” this year as the lack of rentals available is likely to continue driving prices up.

“Vacancy rates in Sydney are still very low,” he told news.com.au.

“Inquiries are still very strong for rental accommodation, the number of properties available for rent is still very low and the properties are leaving the market very quickly.”

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Sights like this have become increasingly common in Sydney after rental vacancy rates took a dive. Picture: Reddit / PT4rd

According to property website Domain, just 0.8 per cent of rental properties nationally were available to rent in January, while rental vacancy rates fell by 0.4 per cent to one per cent in Sydney.

Domain chief of research and economics Dr Nicola Powell told The Sydney Morning Herald tenants are now finding it more difficult to navigate the rental market.

“After seeing that drop back to a record low, the short-term outlook looks pretty bleak for tenants,” she said. “I was a little bit surprised at how tight it’s become.”

Leo Patterson Ross, Tenants Union NSW chief executive, added rental vacancy rates across the country were “bad” no matter the number, labelling Australia’s rental system as below “well-functioning”.

“There is going to be real pressure on rents, pressure on people’s ability to find a home, (and) a lot of people competing for property,” he told The Sydney Morning Herald.

As a result, Mr Patterson Ross in addition to National spokesperson for Everybody’s Home, Maiy Azize, are calling on the government to do more to make housing more affordable, especially with the rental crisis putting more pressure on the social housing system.

“Australia already has a social housing shortfall of 500,000 homes, and the rental market has never been tougher,” Ms Azize said.

The Everybody’s Home spokesperson is calling on the government to build 25,000 new social homes each year to help end the crisis.

“More social housing would lift people out of rental stress, and free up more cheap rentals for people who need them,” she said.

“Many Australian suburbs have hit record high rents and thousands of tenants are in rental stress. The government can start changing that from this year if it’s ambitious enough.”