A report on housing rental affordability in Australia has found what Anglicare Australia executive director Kasey Chambers has described as a “growing divide” between the well-off and those who are not.
The organisation’s annual snapshot of rental affordability – released today – shows that housing affordability for single parents on a Newstart allowance is less than one per cent while for single people on a youth allowance or Newstart it is zero. A single person on an aged pension could only afford one per cent of the properties available for rent and a disability pensioner half of that.
In the Northern Territory, it found that even a shed was not affordable to someone on a low income.
“For people on the lowest incomes, those most vulnerable in the community, our snapshot found that rental affordability is still virtually at zero,” says Ms Chambers.
“The lack of affordable housing impacts on the lives of everyday people, and with over five million supported by the safety net, it”s a lot of lives dramatically shaped every day by this immediate and critical issue.”
Ms Chambers says limited supply “does more than just drive up the price of housing”. “It forces those on lower incomes to spend more on rent than they can afford; compels them to forgo food and other necessities; and drives them further away from social and economic participation.”
Ms Chambers has called for the government to work with the community and housing sectors to grow the supply of public, community and private rental housing affordable to people living on low incomes and for a dedicated housing minister.
The research classifies an affordable rental as one which takes up less than 30 per cent of a household’s income. More than 62,000 properties across the country were included in the snapshot which was taken on 5th April.
