Mixed bag for Sydney's renters: report

Rents for Sydney homes have increased by more than 16 per cent in the past year.

The New South Wales Government says there is good and bad news for Sydney's renters in the state's latest housing figures.

The quarterly Housing NSW Rent and Sales Report shows rent rises in Sydney's inner city suburbs are slowing.

But the Housing Minister, David Borger, says the data also shows that rents in other areas of the city are increasing.

"The latest report is showing that certainly rents in the inner city have decreased by a small margin, but rents in outer western Sydney are continuing to rise quite rapidly," he said.

"The last 12 months have seen rents rise between 16.4 per cent for houses and 20 per cent for apartments."

Mr Borger says the Government wants to pave the way for increasing affordable housing in 2009.

"I'm working closely with the Planning Minister, Kristina Keneally, to review planning laws to make it easier for council and developers to build more affordable housing across New South Wales, and we hope to have that ready to go by early next year," he said.

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