Could shared ownership help Sydney’s housing issues?

If you’ve looked for housing in Sydney in the last five years, chances are you may have found the whole process a bit of a challenge.  With prices rising by as much as 60% in that period, it’s clear many simply can’t get their foot in the door.  The list of reasons why this has occurred is not insignificant.  Record low interest rates and sizeable tax breaks for both local and overseas investors seem to be the main arbiters.

What locals are seeing is prices becoming less and less attainable, as individuals earning salaries in excess of £50,000 struggle to enter the market.  With the cost of living increasing annually, it’s proving hard to support a rented property on top of saving for a deposit.

Now a coalition of charities in New South Wales wants to team up with first-time buyers, a group of people really struggling to break through the markets restrictions.

The main focus of introducing shared ownership for citizens of Sydney is to assist people earning between £50,000 and £70,000 a year make a step towards ownership.  This group of people (which includes police officers and teachers), aren’t eligible for either council or social housing, so are finding it increasingly hard to support a rented property while having to save for a deposit.

There have been similar schemes run in Britain, along with others in Western and South Australia.  An idea that has been discussed by some of the charities based in New South Wales is to build block accommodation.  The pooled money collected from tenants would then subsidise people using the shared ownership programme.

One thing is for certain, if property prices continue to increase, more citizens will have to move further afield.