In more bad news for renters the majority of suburbs in Newcastle and Lake Macquarie are labelled unaffordable according to a new report.
And only one suburb - Tighes Hill - came in as acceptable on the affordability ranking according to the National Shelter-SGS Economics & Planning Rental Affordability Index.
Every other suburb across Newcastle and Lake Macquarie earned a score between 81 to 100 which indicated they were unaffordable, with the average household spending between 30 and 38 per cent of their income on rent.
Use the interactive map below for insight into rental affordability in your suburb
A score of 100 indicates households spend 30 percent of income on rent which is considered the critical threshold level for housing stress.
Four suburbs in the Newcastle region ranked as severely unaffordable with scores of between 50 and 80 recorded in Stockton, Fern Bay, Wickham and Maryville.
This indicates the average rental household in those suburbs spend between 38 and 60 per cent of their income on rent.
"We see in regional centres such as Bathurst and Orange, rents are increasingly unaffordable but especially in those larger regional centres such as Newcastle and Illawarra, people will be paying 30 or up to 44 per cent of their income on rent," SGS Economics & Planning principal Ellen Witte said.
"We see that this is really spreading across the regions."
The only suburbs in Newcastle and Lake Macquarie considered moderately unaffordable for the average rental household were Windale, Shortland, Jesmond, North Lambton, Lambton, Waratah, Waratah West and Georgetown with a score of between 100 and 120.
That equates to 25 to 30 per cent of income spent on rent for the average rental household.
Tighes Hill came out on top with a score of 123 which deemed it as acceptable for rental affordability with 20 to 25 per cent of income spent on rent.
According to the report, the average rental household in regional NSW has a gross annual income of $84,651 per annum.
The average income household in regional NSW pays 29 per cent of their income on rent, however, Ms Witte said the situation was much more dire for those on lower incomes.
"If you look at what share if income people pay on rent, it varies from hospitality workers who will be paying 25 per cent of their income on rent on average," she said.
"That quickly escalates to students who pay 31 per cent [of their income] to single parents who have a part time job who pay 49 per cent.
"We all knows that parents with small children are already very busy in their lives raising young children and the extra costs that come with that, so if you have to fork out 50 per cent of income on rent you are in real trouble.
"At the top there are those on JobSeeker who may be paying 71 per cent of their income on rent, so it illustrates how dire the situation is for many and there is quite a bit of disparity."
Shelter NSW CEO John Engeler said the data challenged the perception that regional NSW was a safe haven for low- and middle-income households.
"Since the pandemic, a growing proportion of renters are forced to dedicate more than 30 per cent of their income to rent in the regions," Mr Engeler said.
"This is not a sustainable situation, it's a social emergency."
Overall, regional NSW had a Rental Affordability Index score of 102 which placed it on the verge of being deemed unaffordable.
This represented a 7 percent decline in affordability in the past three years.
"In regional NSW, affordability is actually worse than in Sydney and that might raise a few eyebrows but that's because incomes are lower in the regional areas," Ms Witte said.
"What we have seen since Covid, a lot of people moved from the city and to the regions and, as a result, rents went up significantly and this trend has not reversed.
"We now see that a lot of regional areas are very unaffordable."
Ms Witte said that while parts of the state still offered acceptable to very affordable rents these areas tend to be far-flung, with limited access to services and relatively lower rental stock.
"Regional centres like Bathurst, Maitland, Wagga Wagga, and effectively the entire coastline including the entirety of Illawarra-Shoalhaven, all offer at best, moderately unaffordable rents at the median level," she said.
"This downward spiral has now reached the point where very few affordable long-term rentals are on offer."
National Shelter CEO Emma Greenhalgh said issue needed to be addressed with a multi-pronged approach.
"What this crisis speaks to is the need for an ongoing and sustained delivery of social and affordable housing," Ms Greenhalgh.
"We need to be seeing real progress from states and territories on the delivery of rental reforms that were announced by National Cabinet in August to a better deal for renters.
"We also need to have a very serious conversation around tax reform, particularly for negative gearing and capital gains tax."
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