Sydney, once the beacon of opportunity for Australia’s youth, is now increasingly being seen as a temporary stop rather than a place to settle. The high cost of housing, compounded by generational wealth disparities and crippling student debts, is driving young people out of the city.
Housing Affordability: The Deal-Breaker for Young Professionals
Zachary Moore, a 23-year-old urban planning student, exemplifies the struggle faced by Sydney’s youth. With his degree nearly complete, Moore is contemplating leaving Sydney, citing the prohibitive cost of housing.
“For the same price that you can buy a fairly crap apartment in Parramatta, you can buy a pretty nice CBD apartment in Melbourne,” Moore said. Despite the relatively strong wages in his industry, Sydney’s housing market remains out of reach.
This sentiment is widespread. A 2024 NSW Productivity Commission report highlights that for every young person moving to Sydney, two leave, with two-thirds of those leaving being of working age.
Hecs Debt: A Roadblock to Homeownership
James Ardouin, a Woollahra councillor, argues that HECS debts are a significant hurdle for young people aspiring to own homes. These debts reduce borrowing power, making home loans harder to secure.
“We want to be productive members of society,” Ardouin said. “But it’s become a system where [HECS] shuts us out from having the same economic opportunities as prior generations.”
This generational gap is stark. Before HECS was introduced in 1989, higher education was free. Today, Gen Z shoulders debts that inhibit their financial mobility, further widening the intergenerational divide.
A City for Temporary Stays
The transient nature of Sydney’s young population is a growing concern. Genevieve Heggarty, a 25-year-old urban ecologist, underscores the financial burden of renting. “We move to Sydney as a temporary situation … and then we’re leaving,” she said.
Even those living at home, like planner Matthew Thrum, are not immune. After saving for a deposit, Thrum purchased a small apartment but now faces housing stress, defined as spending more than 30% of income on housing.
“Everyone’s doing that except Boomers,” Thrum observed, pointing to the stark difference in housing affordability between generations.
The Social Consequences of Housing Stress
The housing crisis has broader implications for Sydney’s social fabric. Heggarty notes a lack of community in the city, driven by renters’ unstable living situations. This instability discourages community investment and fosters generational divides.
Economist Sakshyam Pandey highlights the unintended consequences of skyrocketing property values. “You can’t blame the people that own houses,” Pandey said, but he acknowledges the systemic barriers preventing younger generations from achieving the same milestones.
Thrum believes older generations are beginning to recognize the crisis, though misconceptions persist. “There’s this conflation of an overall rise in living standards … like, ‘Oh, you’ve got an iPad now, how could you possibly be worse off?’”
Government Response and Future Prospects
NSW Housing Minister Rose Jackson acknowledges the gravity of the situation. “We risk being a city with no future,” Jackson warned. The housing crisis, she said, is the government’s “top priority.”
Yet for many young people, the reality of housing stress is prompting tough choices. Architecture student Amanda Eessa, for example, struggles to balance proximity to her community in Fairfield with job opportunities in the CBD.
“A lot of us still have that dream of coming back to western Sydney,” Eessa said, “designing for western Sydney, designing for our communities.”
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