Tens of thousands of homes are vacant across NSW, new data has revealed, as state and federal governments scramble for solutions to the country’s housing crisis.
In New South Wales, about 43,183 inactive or vacant homes have been identified, with about 22,000 of the houses in Greater Sydney.
The City of Sydney has 1757 inactive homes, the highest number based on electorate data.
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That was followed by Heffron with 1201 homes, 1081 homes in Parramatta, 1044 homes in Newton and 809 homes in Balmain.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) published data on dwelling activity in September 2023 as part of the Administrative Data Snapshot of Population and Housing.
It used the 2021 census and multi-agency data including from the Australian Taxation Office and health and social service departments to determine the characteristics of each household.
Houses that had no electricity consumption for some a period of time, were considered “inactive”.
An analysis of the ABS data was conducted by News Corp and cross-referenced with statistics from other agencies.
University of Sydney urban planner and policy analyst, Professor Nicole Gurran said there could be a number of reasons why the houses were not being used, some of which were inevitable.
“They can be between property sales, in between renting, in the short term rental sector, they maybe maintained as second homes for property owners, or they may be undergoing renovation,” Professor Gurran said.
She said historically, about 10 per cent of Australia’s housing stock is considered inactive, but the latest data showed an incremental increase.
The NSW Government is under mounting pressure to increase housing supply as rental and house prices have spiralled, pricing low and middle -income earners out of the market.
The state government released a discussion paper in February while it investigates changes to the short-term rental market to improve housing affordability.
Housing Minister Rose Jackson said the government was considering capping the number of days people could advertise their properties on the short-term market, or levies for those who refused to advertise their properties for rent.
Professor Gurran agreed policy changes should focus on the short-term market, such as Airbnb.
“We can’t afford to lose more properties to the short-term market, particular in the major employment centres where people wouldn’t usually retain a second home,” she said.
-With Paul Kadak.