Rental affordability in Greater Brisbane has reached its lowest-ever level according to the annual Rental Affordability Index from SGS Economics and peak body National Shelter.
Rental affordability in Brisbane.Credit: SGS Economics, National Shelter
The index, which compares median rents with average incomes, found Greater Brisbane’s affordability had dropped 9 per cent in the past year, hitting people on low incomes the hardest.
Brisbane’s median rent was now at $553 a week, which costs 28 per cent of the average renting household’s income.
The report also found regional Queensland to be the most unaffordable of all regions and capital cities, with median rents (also $553) costing 30 per cent of average incomes.
National Shelter chief executive Emma Greenhalgh said affordability was already dire in Brisbane and now things were going “from bad to worse”.
“Almost nowhere is safe from declining affordability, with most suburbs falling either one to two affordability categories.
“Governments must urgently address this worsening affordability crisis, including by building more social and affordable homes and better regulating renting.”