Anglicare Australia releases Rental Affordability Snapshot: all parties must commit to affordable housing
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Anglicare Australia is calling on Federal and state governments to invest in housing for people on the lowest incomes – the call is made as Anglicare Australia releases its Rental Affordability Snapshot
Anglicare Australia is calling on Federal and state governments to invest in housing for people on the lowest incomes. The call is made as Anglicare Australia releases its Rental Affordability Snapshot.
The Snapshot surveyed over 69,000 rental listings across Australia and found that there is a chronic shortage of affordable rentals across Australia.
Highlights from the report include:
- 317 rentals were affordable for a single person on the Disability Support Pension
- 75 rentals were affordable for a single parent with one child on Newstart
- 2 rentals were affordable for a single person in a property or share house on Newstart
- 1 rental was affordable for a single person in a property or share house on Youth Allowance
- 0 rentals were affordable for a single person on Newstart or Youth Allowance in any major city or regional centre
Anglicare Australia Executive Director Kasy Chambers said that the rental crisis is getting worse:
“Housing in Australia is broken. Our figures show that affordability is down across the board,” Ms Chambers said.
“There is a huge shortage of secure, affordable rentals. That’s causing record levels of rental stress and even homelessness.
“And now we’re seeing older Australians are getting stuck in expensive and insecure rentals – at a time in their life when they need stability more than ever.
Ms Chambers said Australia has a dire shortage of social housing. Social housing is for people who are on very low incomes. This could include people who have recently experienced homelessness, family violence, have a disability or simply can’t get a home in the private rental market.
“People on the lowest incomes are being squeezed out of the rental market. That’s why it’s urgent that we invest in social housing.
“Our social housing shortfall is massive. We need 300,000 new social properties across Australia.
“We’re calling on all parties to commit to ending this shortfall – and ensure that everyone has a place to call home,” Ms Chambers said.
Anglicare SQ has also released a local Rental Affordability Snapshot 2019 for Brisbane Metro.
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