Two years ago we had a housing glut in our major cities. There was a boom of new apartment building. Many tenants signed leases in the inner cities and networked, planned their lives and lived, as you do.

Who would ever think that in such a short period of time, an extreme glut would flip into the worst rent crisis in 20 years. In a short period of time, so many are forced to leave the same properties.

In 12 months, rents have gone up by $50, to sometimes $80 per week. It is usual for a decent 2 bedroom flat in the inner city to be from $400 to $900 per week. This is a huge jump from just 2 years ago.

We have tenants rights tribunals and regulations as to how far landlords can raise rents in a short period of time. There are so many loopholes in the rental system and tenants rights, that the regulations are being all but ignored.

Sad to see nurses teachers and good people forced to leave the area replaced by up-market cocaine dealers, business sharks, and others that are very good at making money. They also don't tend to be responsible enough to take out a loan to buy and I wonder how they are trusted on a lease. They are good at fudging references and faking their legitimate incomes. Who cares if they pay such high rents?

So ethics have very little do with security of tenure. The lawless and sleaze, who these days, are valued more than essential services are taking our houses. What ever happened to regulation and decency?

The whole reason for living in the inner city is leaving town. You will be left will high crime, as they earn good money now (I know the statistics), business sleaze sharks and others who take more interest in Zurich than they do in the Sydney villages.

That's what happens with high immigration.

Move to the country. A two bedroom flat will cost you perhaps $150-$200/week. You can take a reasonable drop in income when you are saving that much in payments. If more people start to leave Sydney etc, then the government might also get serious about spending up on regional infrastructure. More people means more jobs created. Crime rates are lower (in most places), you can get to work within 15 minutes (at the outside) and the air is fresher. head out west and leave the landlords to their substandard tenants.

Simply going on the content of this post, it looks like the law of supply and demand is working normally here.

We had a glut. Now we don't.

>>...the worst rent crisis in 20 years<<

What happened 20 years ago? It would appear that the "crisis" eventually turned into a "glut".

Now that "glut" is becoming a "crisis" again.

Can we detect a pattern emerging here?

Convenience has a price, we pay extra for the convenience of inner-city living. We also pay extra to live somewhere that a lot of other people want to live.

The only concern here should be the ability of essential service personnel such as nurses, firemen, teachers etc. to live within reasonable distance of their work.

(And if you think Sydney has a problem with this, try being a nurse in a central London hospital like Guys or Barts...)

It should not be beyond the wit of man to devise a form of inner-city rental subsidy for these people.

Misattributing Sydney rental crisis to lawless, sleazy business sharks and drug dealers hardly does much for good debate.

Large quantities of money & debt flowed into the rental market from: the baby boomers utilising Govt provided tax offset, tax haven and first home owner mechanisms; increasing numbers of speculative investors; a good deal of foreign investment (but getting statistics is difficult).

Luxury development is conspicuous. Inconspicuous is the lack of new moderately priced accommodation - for that you have to head out along the rail corridors - it has been sluggish.

Place this in the context of population growth and Guest Worker programs - sub-section 457 temporary worker visas. There is no cap.

"In the December half, 457s were running at an annualised rate of 45,000, but with the extra drive and need for workers, plus the dependants’ temporary visas, it’s not hard to speculate that guest worker visas of one sort of another will hit six figures and keep going. That means a real immigration numbers approaching 300,000 next financial year."

The Government has failed to skill Australians in trades and professions.
http://www.workpermit.com/australia/skilled_demand_list.htm

It is cheaper to import and it keeps a lid on wages.

The Australian Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DoIC) has 25 Officers working for business to pull in skilled and semi unskilled workers on temporary 'rolling' work visas or for permanent immigration.

In the next financial year some 300,000 immigrants both through skilled immigration, family, and humanitarian (small) programs will come to Australia.
In 2005 - 2006 some 45,000 immigrants settled in NSW - most would be in Sydney. On top of this add Student Visas, Guest Workers.

see Canberra quietly ups the skilled migration ante – it’s all about inflation
http://www.crikey.com.au/Business/20070504-Canberra-quietly-ups-the-skilled-migration-ante-its-all-about-inflation-.html

Uh, Deus.... I would have thought that large quanities of money pouring into the rental market from the likes of speculative investors would be a good thing - more investors = more rental availability = no crisis.

Pericles, I agree. There needs to be some form of subsidy available for emergency services workers, that doesnt have a tax impact (currently they would run smack into an FBT problem). I consider this to be a good use of taxpayer funds. As for anyone else, I stick to my suggestion of leaving the city. Come out to the country where businesses are crying out for skilled workers. Yes you need to take a little paycut, but consider how cheap it is to find housing and you'll probably have more in your pocket anyway.