Olympics forcing Sydney rents up

Olympics forcing Sydney rents up

By Sean Healy

SYDNEY — Tenant rights advocates Rentwatchers have warned that rent levels in the Olympics corridor here are skyrocketing and the frequency of evictions from houses, flats and lodges in the city is unprecedented.

Spokesperson Dave Trudinger claims that the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games and the NSW state government are turning a blind eye.

The NSW Department of Fair Trading claims that the increasing number of evictions is simply a result of Sydney's booming property market, but Trudinger counters this argument by pointing to cases his group has dealt with and the experience of previous Olympics host cities, Atlanta and Barcelona.

Tenants' rights groups say that in Strathfield, near the Homebush Bay Olympics site, the 1999 growth in median rent for a two-bedroom house was almost triple the state average — 16.3% compared to 5.6%. Median rent growth for a one-bedroom house was 23.3% in Strathfield, 12.5% for NSW.

Rentwatchers will be releasing new information and a series of case studies to back up their argument at a public meeting on March 29, 7.30pm, at the Newtown Neighbourhood Centre.

From GLW issue 398