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As the Mid-Western area's housing crisis remains untamed, the region's locals have shared in a joint plea for help as prices for homes begin to outweigh wages and more locals face the threat of becoming homeless.
In a survey conducted by the Mudgee Guardian, 95 per cent of the forty respondents to date believed a housing crisis to be a concern in the Mudgee region, with more than half aware of someone who became homeless due to not having the financial means to rent.
Among the region's growing popularity for tree-changers, a rise in property prices, a hike in short-term accommodation spots, and a 'stale' wage are what locals have attributed to the ever-growing crisis, according to survey results.
"Mudgee has had a rental crisis for years and unless you're one of the unlucky ones with a lower income, you wouldn't have noticed. In the last few years, prices skyrocketed and nation-wide the wages remained stale. For lower income earners, finding a house has always been a challenge," one respondent wrote.
"If wages don't move - they're not increasing - how can people afford a 20 per cent increase every year? At this rate, my old job won't offer me enough financial security for secure housing in Mudgee...so I am commencing a career change to offer my son and I a more secure housing future in Mudgee," another wrote.
"We chose to move here for a better life and are now being forced to consider leaving Mudgee and closing a local business I started here that employs locals because my rent is getting so expensive that I am forced to pay three quarters of my weekly income," an individual wrote in their survey response.
"A cap on the amount of Airbnbs needs to be put in place, it is pushing locals who make this place so amazing out of their homes" a Mid-Western local wrote.
A search on the Airbnb website revealed there are currently more than 350 short-stay locations available across the Mid-Western area, with 281 available in Mudgee alone.
"We are being inundated with Airbnbs in quiet residential streets because investors think they can make better returns. So many Airbnbs reduce the stock available for long-term rentals and that drives up rents and also affects employment in the area because potential staff can't find somewhere to live," a survey respondent wrote.
"We might be a tourist area but we need to have balance. Nowhere to live means no staff, means cafes, restaurants and cellar doors close, then less tourists and so on. More planning needs to be done to control rental stock."
Eighty-five per cent of survey respondents believe there should be more affordable housing available to residents.
At present, there is a five to 10 year wait on a one or four plus bedroom property in Mudgee, and a two to five year wait for a two or three bedroom home in the locality.
With rental prices primarily set in accordance to the current market, "more affordable housing is the only option".
"The State Government needs to make a provision for more community housing. Community housing should grow in proportion with the community growth yet I haven't seen any new housing," one respondent wrote.
"We need more affordable social housing, especially for pensioners who are pushed out of the rental market due to increasing rent," another wrote.
"The Government needs to support housing supply to a higher degree. The burden cannot be placed on private landlords especially after they were asked to bear a higher portion of the COVID-19 relief as tenants had to be offered rental discounts but landlords could only defer costs," one local wrote in their survey response.
"Please help."
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