Key Australian workers are unable to access affordable rental properties in central city suburbs in major cities across the country, a new analysis has revealed.
Rents above pre-pandemic levels in Sydney and Melbourne
The Community Housing Industry Association compared rental prices for a two-bedroom unit in the middle ring suburbs of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane with the after-tax weekly incomes of two typical Australian families.
The first family had a full-time construction worker and a shop assistant who worked three days a week. The family’s total weekly income was $1,456.
The second household included a full-time elder care worker and a hospitality worker who worked three days a week. Their weekly income was $1,535.
Families in Australia’s major cities are no longer able to afford affordable housing in the suburbs of the central region. Photo: NewsWire/Max Mason-Hubers
The results were “confronting,” revealing that both families were experiencing “significant housing stress,” with rent consuming between 32 and 48 percent of their disposable income in each city.
Among the different suburbs, rent in Parramatta consumed the largest portion of the weekly income of both households, at 46% of the first household’s income and 44% of the second household’s income.
Rental properties in Melbourne’s south-east and north-west were among the cheapest in Australia, with rents at between 32 and 34 per cent of a household’s weekly income.
In Brisbane’s northern and south-central suburbs, rent consumed between 33 and 37 per cent of households’ weekly income.
With rents now $50 to $70 higher than last year, CHIA is now calling on the federal government to triple the affordable housing fund.
CHIA chief executive Wendy Hayhurst said once “oases of affordability” middle-ring suburbs were now “housing deserts” and Australian workers who keep communities running were being squeezed by rising prices.
The new analysis has sparked calls for the federal government to triple its affordable housing fund. Photo: NewsWire/Aaron Francis
“The families of construction workers, shop assistants, aged care workers and hospitality staff are facing huge housing pressures,” she said.
“When nearly half your income goes to renting a modest two-bedroom unit, there’s little left for other necessities, let alone a basic vacation or meal out every now and then.”
“This is not just a number on paper; it represents real families facing difficult choices.
Between paying rent and meeting other basic needs.
Although national rental vacancy rates rose to 1.42% in June after hitting an all-time low of 1.09% in February, according to PropTrack data, vacancy rates remain tight.
According to Ms Hayhurst, there is a growing consensus that one in 10 Australian homes should be affordable rental housing, prompting the industry expert to call on the federal government to increase the affordable housing fund from $10 billion to $30 billion.
“The housing crisis is no longer confined to inner cities or the coast. It is extending to vast areas of the world.
“The spread of the virus abroad is engulfing suburbs that have traditionally been a haven for essential workers,” she continued.
“Without significant intervention, we risk pushing essential workers away from their workplaces, with dire consequences for our communities and our economy.”
