I'm on a local contract, but now that I've finished my "probationary period" of three months, I've asked for and have been granted an expat package. Not sure if that technically makes sense, but essentially that's what's happened. I'm in a totally different field though, so it's somewhat irrelevant, and I think I was a special case..Maybe this is just technically a "raise" where now they take care of my housing.
It really does depend on what events you're doing, but I certainly think 25K-30k is a reasonable amount on a local contract. Mind you, I only only have one benchmark which is a friend doing high end stuff for fashion and the like, and making a bit more than 25k.
Another issue I was confused about: shouldn't a company be more willing to grant such things as housing allowances? That way, they don't have to pay mpf. Correct me if I'm wrong.