Australians are facing a rental market that has never been less affordable.
The 2023 Rental Affordability Snapshot surveyed rental listings across Australia and found that affordability has crashed to record lows. Out of 45,895 rental listings, we found that:
- 345 rentals (0.8%) were affordable for a person earning a full-time minimum wage
- 162 rentals (0.4%) were affordable for a person on the Age Pension
- 66 rentals (0.1%) were affordable for a person on the Disability Support Pension
- 4 rentals, (0%) all sharehouses, were affordable for a person on JobSeeker
- 0 rentals (0%) were affordable for a person on Youth Allowance.
This year, Anglicare Australia has also released a companion report focusing on rental affordability for essential workers. Out of 45,895 rental listings, we found that:
- 1087 rentals (2.4%) were affordable for an ambulance worker
- 666 rentals (1.5%) were affordable for a nurse
- 582 rentals (1.3%) were affordable for a construction worker
- 507 rentals (1.1%) were affordable for an aged care worker
- 428 rentals (0.9%) were affordable for an early childhood educator
- 424 rentals (0.9%) were affordable for a hospitality worker.
In response to the findings, Anglicare Australia is calling for more social housing to end our shortfall of 640,000 homes. We are also calling for better protections for renters, including an end to no-cause evictions and limits on unfair rent increases, and tax reform to make housing more affordable.