The NSW Treasurer has sounded the alarm that Sydney’s housing may only be accessible for the very wealthy and experience homelessness like San Francisco – if changes are not made quickly.
Daniel Mookhey said on Monday that the nation’s most populous city has a window of five-to-10 years to fix its housing sector and prevent it from being dominated by intergenerational wealth.
Without intervention, the city could fall into a state similar to the Californian city where skilled workers have to choose between food and high rent and businessmen in suits can be seen lining up at soup kitchens, Mr Mookhey said.
Homelessness camps have started to pop up around Sydney, with one housing up to eight people every night underneath the awnings of the empty Metro Minerva Theatre Building in Potts Point.
Sydney (pictured) has been given five-to-ten years to six its housing crisis before the market becomes dominated by those with generational wealth
The price of a home in Sydney is currently increasing to a point where it’s excluding those who achieve an education and independent wealth, according to Mr Mookhey.
In the past, education has been the equaliser for a market built on egalitarianism, allowing those who put in the effort to afford a home and become part of the middle class.
The treasurer said the issue will mostly trouble Aussies in Gen Z, who are on par to be the most educated in history but also have the hardest time in owning a home.
‘Having parents and grandparents with a property portfolio is beginning to matter more than getting a degree,’ Mr Mookhey said.
‘The prospect of owning a home is now more remote for more young people than it has been in generations.’
The treasurer likened the trend to that of San Francisco where the middle class are ‘having their lives turned on their heads by housing insecurity and homelessness’.
NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey (pictured) warned Sydney could fall into a state similar to San Francisco, California, where even the rich have to choose between food and exorbitant rent
San Francisco has become known for the numerous homeless camps that litter its streets (pictured)
While crediting the city for seeking solutions, he said ‘their points of intervention are coming very late’.
‘We still have a point in time in which we can make better choices,’ he said.
The state government’s plan to fix the housing market involves reworking zoning laws to allow for up to six-storey complexes within 400m of 30 of the city’s train stations.
However, the rezoning plan hasn’t been welcomed by locals on Sydney’s North Shore who have criticised the government for not caring about their area’s heritage or home values.
Mr Mookhey hit back at the plan’s detractors, saying a balance can be struck between protecting a neighbourhood’s character and also allowing for people to break into the housing market.
