Rental snapshot highlights need for 500,000 social and affordable homes

30/04/2018

Anglicare’s Rental Affordability Snapshot highlights the widening housing gap in Australia, with just 28% of rental homes affordable for households earning a minimum wage and three in the whole country affordable for a single job seeker on Newstart.

Everybody’s Home campaign spokesperson Kate Colvin said 1.5 million Australians households paying more than 30% of their income on housing, with people on the lowest incomes struggling to find homes in almost every part of the country.

“Anglicare’s snapshot shows that Australia’s private rental market is failing millions of Australians, from people with disability, to aged pensioners, to those just trying to keep a roof over their head while they look for work,” Ms Colvin said.

“It means that with more people struggling in the private rental market, the supply of affordable or social rental properties is outstripping supplyand needs to catch up.

“Australia is a long way behind the rest of the world in supporting the growth of a an affordable and community housing sector.

“It’s time for the Government to show real leadership and get behind an approach that we know works.”

Everybody’s Home is calling on the government to develop a national strategy for providing the shortfall of 500,000 social and affordable needed in Australia, including:

• Capital investment to generate 300,000 new social and Aboriginal housing properties; and
• A new tax incentive or subsidy to leverage private sector investment in 200,000 low cost rental properties (affordable housing) for low and middle income earners.