Rental affordability is the worst on record in several capital cities, pushing welfare recipients, minimum-wage workers and single-income households to the fringes of Australian communities. Source: Domain.
The National Shelter-SGS Planning and Economics Rental Affordability Index released today shows it is unaffordable for the average household to rent in every city aside from the ACT, the one jurisdiction in Australia where a rent cap has been implemented.
Affordability was much worse for low-income households; in some cases the poorest of the poor would need to spend more than their entire income to rent in the most expensive cities.
Rental affordability was at its worst on record in Sydney and Perth, and although Melbourne improved slightly, it was still trending down.
SGS principal and partner Ellen Witte said that in the index’s 10 years, affordability had almost uniformly worsened.
Rents were 30 per cent of a tenant’s income in Sydney and 31 per cent in Perth. The index scores are based on the income of each city’s residents, therefore lower incomes in Perth made its market less affordable despite rents being cheaper overall.
It was followed by Adelaide (30 per cent of incomes) and Brisbane (29 per cent). Melbourne and the ACT fared better; rents there were 25 per cent and 23 per cent of incomes, respectively, and had improved slightly over the April quarter. However, Melbourne’s affordability was still trending down.
The figures were worse for low-income renters. A Jobseeker recipient would need to spend 137 per cent of their income to afford a one-bedroom rental in Sydney, 99 per cent in Melbourne, 107 per cent in Brisbane and 133 per cent in Perth.
Minimum-wage couples looking to rent a two-bedroom home would need to spend 37 per cent of their income in Sydney, 30 per cent in Melbourne, 31 per cent in Brisbane and 30 per cent in Perth.
FULL STORY
Where even a modest home costs 99 per cent of incomes (By Jim Malo, Domain)
