More than 2,000 premises deemed uninhabitable in NSW region already beset by ‘beyond dire’ housing crisis

Flooding in Ballina, in the Northern Rivers of NSW. Photograph: Natalie Grono/The Guardian

Flooding has rendered more than 2,000 homes and businesses in northern New South Wales uninhabitable, according to early inspections, exacerbating the “beyond dire” pre-existing housing crisis in the region.

Experts say the northern rivers was already 2,300 homes short of what would be considered a healthy rental vacancy rate before last week’s floods hit.