Rental prices are becoming increasingly unaffordable particularly for single people and those on welfare, a new report has found.
Anglicare Australia has released its Rental Affordability Snapshot which surveyed 74,000 rental listings across the country.
It found affordability has decreased in the past year pushing even more people to the brink of homelessness.
Of the rental listings surveyed, not one single property – including share houses – was classed as affordable for a person on Youth Allowance.
Affordability is defined as 33 per cent of a person’s income.
The snapshot also found of 74,000 properties just 859 rentals (1.2 per cent) were affordable for a person on the minimum wage, and 386 (0.5 per cent) for a person on the Age Pension.
For a person on the Disability Support Pension just 236 (0.3 per cent) rentals were classed as affordable.
Just three rental listings were affordable for someone on Jobseeker, the report found.
Anglicare Australia Executive Director Kasy Chambers said the rental crisis is getting worse, and even properties outside major cities are too expensive.
“Last year, renters were on the frontline of the pandemic. Now they’re being left out of the recovery.
“There aren’t enough affordable homes in any region. Country areas are becoming just as bad as the cities, with fewer rentals and higher asking prices than a year ago.
“And the ‘new’ rate of JobSeeker is so low that it hasn’t made a dent in affordability. There are less affordable rentals for people out of work than there were last year.
“We keep hearing that the economy is bouncing back. But the recovery is leaving too many people behind.”
Anglicare and Everybody’s Home, a national campaign to end homelessness, are both calling on the federal government to prioritise more social and affordable housing in the upcoming Budget.
“A stable home is essential to holding down a job, raising a family and looking after your health,” Everybody’s Home National spokesperson Kate Colvin said.
“But our housing system is warped. This basic plank of a civilised society is out of reach for many thousands of Australians,” Ms Colvin said.
“High and rising rents are pushing thousands of Australians into homelessness, including young people who can’t live safely at home, women and children escaping family violence, and low income older people.
“We urgently need to build more social and affordable housing so that all Australians have the prospect of a healthy and stable life. It’s not much to ask.”
This content first appear on 9news