The average price of a Wagga house is now more than $700,000. Photo: Ray White Wagga.
Griffith Council’s decision to reject a proposal for a 21-unit housing complex next to the hospital is disappointing in a town where there is nowhere to rent for less than $330 a week.
The only way to solve the rental crisis in Wagga and Griffith is to build high density housing near the CBD.
This will inevitably change the character of neighbourhoods and cause some parking and traffic inconvenience. But the alternative is to continue to have residents sleeping in cars and young professionals leaving the Riverina or spurning job offers here because there is nowhere affordable to reside.
When I moved to Griffith in 2017, it was the perfect place to escape the ridiculously high prices of Sydney. I instantly found a two-bedroom unit to rent for $250 and did the rounds of Saturday morning auctions when houses sold under the hammer for less than $350,000.
Fast forward to August 2025 and the average rental cost is $500 per week, which is more than I ever paid in a big city. Demand has totally outstripped supply, such that the median purchase price is now $600,000. It’s even worse in Wagga, where typical rent is $520 and the average sale price a whopping $705,000.
This is a huge problem for people on unemployment benefits or pensions. There is nothing even remotely affordable to rent, leading to growing levels of homelessness and multiple people cramming into the one room.
The crisis is now also impacting those who are relatively well-off.
Both Wagga and Griffith are full of large properties and have limited small units and share housing, which is a nightmare for businesses, schools and hospitals trying to attract and retain young professionals, teachers and medical staff.
A young single moving to town on a starting salary of $60,000 may have to face paying over half their salary to rent a family-sized house, if they’re lucky enough to find something.
I’ve heard stories of young professionals who have been offered jobs in Griffith but then turned them down because they couldn’t find somewhere to live, which is devastating for our town.
That’s why Sydney lawyer Mark Secivanovic’s proposal to construct a single-storey co-living complex with both single and double units on Wyangan Avenue next seemed like such as attractive proposition.
An artist’s impression of the proposed development. Photo: PTI Architecture.
It’s exactly the type of housing we need and would have appealed to anyone considering taking up a job at our desperately short-staffed hospital 200 m away.
Naturally, the development received multiple objections from neighbours who were concerned the 21-unit complex would only provide nine parking spaces. This was expected to cause parking and traffic hassles.
It’s true this is unusual for Griffith, where every house seems to have at least three vehicles parked out the front. But it’s an inevitable consequence of making the much-needed shift towards high density, affordable housing for the overall good of the town.
In inner city Sydney, it’s common for apartments to be built with no allocated parking. This can cause headaches with cars cluttering the street and visitors having to park further away, but nobody complains too much because that’s one of the consequences of living in a super costly city like Sydney.
Unfortunately, Wagga and Griffith are now expensive too. That means we’ll have to start putting up with some hassles to ensure our fellow residents all have a roof over their head.
The housing crisis is devastating for our towns and their future. Solving it should be our top priority. Accepting trade-offs and wearing some inconvenience benefits us all in the long-run.
