ESSENTIAL workers are being priced out of Newcastle and Lake Macquarie as house prices and rentals continue to climb.
New research shows that in 2016, an early career registered nurse, paramedic or police officer could afford to buy a median-priced home in Newcastle, Lake Macquarie and the Central Coast.
Now none of those areas have an affordable median price, even for a strata-titled property.
The median rent for a two bedroom property in Newcastle is also now out of reach for an early career enrolled or registered nurse.
Developed with HOPE Housing, the new report led by researchers at the University of Sydney's School of Architecture, Design and Planning highlights critical issues facing essential workers in areas where they need to live.
The findings show access to appropriate and affordable housing is a systemic and worsening problem in Sydney and Melbourne, now extending to what were once affordable suburbs and coastal regional areas.
Co-author Dr Catherine Gilbert said it was particularly concerning that, while Sydney has had a longstanding affordability problem, contributing to recruitment and retention challenges in essential services, that was extending.
"We're now seeing the problem extend to nearby regional cities and coastal areas that historically offered affordable options for many of the Greater metro region's essential workforce," Dr Gilbert said.
Over the past three Census periods, Newcastle, Lake Macquarie and the Central Coast have consistently gained essential worker residents while expensive areas in central Sydney and Sydney's north have consistently lost them.
"But now, following significant regional house price and rental growth, these areas are no longer affordable."
Across all of Greater Sydney, the Illawarra, Newcastle and the Hunter, Cessnock and Maitland are the only two local government areas that still have a median price affordable to an early career registered nurse. The research highlights the critical need for intervention and innovation across the australian housing system to improve access for essential workers, the report said.
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