Australia’s Rental Crisis at Breaking Point
By: Bec Harris
Australia’s housing crisis is deepening, and for millions of renters, it’s starting to feel like there’s nowhere left to turn.
Maiy Azize from advocacy group Everybody’s Home, unpacks the latest research into our housing system, and why things have gotten so bad.
Maiy shared sobering insights into a system that has seen rents rise a staggering 60% over the last decade, with most of that increase happening since just 2022. “I don’t know anyone who’s had a 60% wage increase in ten years,” she says. “So why are we okay with housing costs going up that much?”
What’s Driving the Surge?
While many point fingers at population growth, Maiy highlights that the steepest rent hikes actually occurred during the pandemic, when borders were shut and migration was at a standstill. Instead, the research points to government withdrawal from public and social housing as a major factor. “We used to have affordable rental options provided by the government – now that system has almost disappeared.”
In the early 1980s, around one in four new homes were built by the government. Today, social housing makes up just 4% of all homes in Australia. This void has been filled by the private sector – but affordable housing has never been their responsibility.
The Cities Catching Up – and Getting Expensive
Once-affordable cities like Adelaide, Brisbane, Hobart and Perth are now some of the most expensive places to rent, with Adelaide seeing an 80% increase over the past 10 years.
Maiy says this has been accelerated by trends like remote work, where high-income earners from Sydney or Melbourne relocate to smaller cities, driving up local prices. And it’s not just capital cities. Regional areas, where wages are lower, are quickly catching up to city prices, creating a dire situation for long-term locals.
The Social Housing Shortfall
The current shortfall in social housing? An eye-watering 640,000 homes. To restore balance, government advisors recommend Australia aim for:
- 6% of housing to be social housing in the medium term, and
- 10% in the long term.
But this would require building 30,000 to 50,000 homes per year – something Australia hasn’t done since the post-WWII era. “We did it before, when we had far less money than we do now,” Maiy explains. “It’s not a lack of resources, it’s a lack of will and imagination.”
What Can Be Done?
While building takes time, Maiy argues that urgent action is possible now, particularly around rent regulation. For example, Canberra has introduced caps on rent increases, and is the only capital city seeing rent growth slow.
And countries like Austria, Singapore, and even the UK offer blueprints: from government-subsidised homeownership, to mandatory requirements for private developers to allocate a portion of new builds to affordable housing. “All around the world, where housing is more affordable, the government plays a bigger role,” Maiy says.
Who’s Feeling the Pressure?
While low-income Australians are being hit the hardest – especially those on JobSeeker or the age pension – the crisis is climbing the income ladder. Recent analysis found you’d need to earn $120,000 a year as a single person to comfortably rent in an Australian capital city.
A Glimmer of Hope?
Despite the overwhelming figures, Maiy remains hopeful. “Everything we need to fix this crisis has been done in Australia before. The only difference is we’re richer now – we just need our leaders to treat housing as the essential service it is.”
Article supplied with thanks to Sonshine.
Feature image: Canva
