Our city's crowded houses on the rise

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STRUGGLING Sydney families are cramming into shared homes as the cost of living spirals out of control.

The number of Australian households shared by three or more families has increased from 29,649 to 48,507 ? a rise of 64 per cent ? in the past five years, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The boom has outstripped the number of new houses and total population growth, both of which rose only 8.3 per cent.

While households with three or more families currently only make up a fraction of Australian family households, at 0.3 per cent, it is a trend experts believe will grow as rent and utility bills continue to rise.

Australians for Affordable Housing, a coalition of national housing, welfare and community sector organisations working to highlight the problem of housing affordability in Australia, is concerned.

?Housing is a basic need, but rent levels in our cities mean that low income households will have trouble finding a place they can afford,? campaign manager Sarah Toohey said.

?Recent research by Anglicare found very few rentals in any capital city were affordable to people on pensions and benefits, but in Sydney and Melbourne families on the minimum wage would struggle to find an affordable rental.

?We hear of families with young children moving back in with their parents, or staying temporarily with other family members, sleeping on the floor, because they can?t find an affordable place to rent.?

Auburn holds the title of Australia?s most crowded suburb, with 340 households containing three or more families. It has a high number of Gen Ys starting their families in the homes of their parents and a large migrant community.

It is a similar scenario throughout the city?s west.

While social analyst Mark McCrindle acknowledges the importance of family in the migrant community, with 30 per cent entering Australia under a family visa, he sees the financial pressure on the younger generation as a larger factor in the trend.

?Gen Y are starting their families in debt. They have HECs and credit card debts and costs their parents didn?t have, such as broadband.?

And with elderly parents moving in with children rather than to retirement villages, nursing homes or smaller properties, the Baby Boomers in the middle are becoming the ?Sandwich Generation?.

?They are paying more for groceries, water and electricity and are missing the opportunity to downsize as they face the burden or responsibility.?

Toohey is concerned families are forced into cramped and overcrowded conditions ?because they simply can?t afford an alternative?.

Source: http://www.tawakilagi.com/2012/10/07/our-citys-crowded-houses-on-the-rise/

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