Media release | Friday, 10 May 2024
Homelessness NSW is calling for a Victorian-style levy on short-term rentals, and an immediate spending boost for social housing and emergency accommodation, as new data reveals a sharp rise in rough sleeping.
New street count data reported in The Sydney Morning Herald shows rough sleeping rising by 25 per cent to 2,037 people across NSW between February and March. Local government areas across the Central and Mid North coasts recorded some of the sharpest increases.
Homelessness NSW CEO Dom Rowe said:
“These figures are heartbreaking. They represent those who cannot keep up with exorbitant rental increases in the private market as well as women and children escaping domestic violence.
“The homelessness crisis is not going to go away. It’s getting worse and NSW cannot afford to keep kicking the can down the road.
“We need circuit breaker investment, including a $1 billion a year for the next decade to double the supply of social housing from one in 20 to one in 10 homes by 2050.
“The government also needs to spend $30 million over three years to significantly expand the pool of temporary accommodation.
“NSW must be at least as ambitious as Victoria when it comes to levies on short term accommodation. The money raised through this levy must go to underfunded frontline services forced to turn away one in two people seeking help.”
Homelessness NSW is calling for the NSW to commit:
$1 billion annually for the next decade to build 5,000 social houses per year;
To a levy of at least 7.5 per cent on short-term rentals, with the revenue used to provide a funding boost to frontline homelessness services over two years;
$30 million over three years to secure additional temporary accommodation.
