Australia's acute shortage of properties to rent is set to deepen as fewer new homes are built, industry leaders warn.
The huge and sparsely-populated Pacific nation is paradoxically lacking in available real estate, potentially leaving thousands homeless.
Just 0.9 percent of the rental properties in Australia are available at any time — a fraction of the rate in the bustling Asian city-state of Singapore or China's famously-overcrowded Hong Kong.
Politicians and economists agree that the country needs hundreds of thousands of new homes to meet the needs of its 26-million population, but government measures have so far been ineffective.
“Demand has never really been hotter, and people supplying property have never been more hesitant," said Adelaide Timbrell, a senior economist at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group. "What makes this cycle different is that people don’t want to build homes, and that’s putting us in this vicious spiral.”
The number of new developments in the works has slumped. The causes include building costs 30 percent higher than before the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns.
Planning permission approvals are close to the historic low and 560 building firms declared themselves bankrupt in July and August of this year. Industry associations also complain of a labor shortage.
“We haven’t got enough builders and we haven’t got enough people with skills to be able to deliver houses, and we’re going to end up in big, big trouble,” said Builders Collective of Australia President Phil Dwyer.
Another obstacle is an intransigent "NIMBY" (not in my back yard) attitude among activist local residents.
In the Sydney suburb of Little Bay, a 30-acre site bought by property tycoon Harry Triguboff has sat vacant for years as residents have fought his plan to build a 2,000-apartment complex there.
The Save Little Bay campaign points out that the community is by the ocean and near two national parks, and wants the scheme down-sized.
“High-rise developments need to be in appropriate locations, supported by mass transportation, integrated affordable housing and other public infrastructure,” said the group's spokesman Olde Lorenzen.