Regional Queensland’s rental prices soar as housing stock dries up

Queensland’s rental crisis has plunged into despair with dozens of suburbs declared “severely unaffordable”. FULL LIST

Queensland’s housing crisis has plunged further into despair as a new report reveals rental affordability in Brisbane has fallen to its lowest ever level.

But the affordability crunch is worse in the regions, where a severe shortage of housing options has led to rental prices soaring.

The annual rental affordability index, from support organisation and National Shelter and policy advisory SGS Economics and Planning, reveals Queenslanders on lower incomes have felt the brunt of the crisis more significantly.

Affordability in Greater Brisbane has fallen 9 per cent in the past year, according to the national index, where the median rent of $553 now consumes 28 per cent of the average rental household income of about $104,000.

National Shelter chief executive Emma Greenhalgh. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Gary Ramage

But the pain is more pronounced for those on lower incomes, with a single person on JobSeeker having to spend more than their entire income on median rent for a one-bedroom home (108 per cent of their income) compared to 89 per cent last year.

“Affordability was already dire in Brisbane, but now things are going from bad to even worse,” National Shelter chief executive Emma Greenhalgh said.

“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.”

Ms Greenhalgh said she was particularly concerned about the deteriorating affordability in regional Queensland, where the median rents are also $553 but average rental household incomes are lower, at $96,000.

These figures are a record high for the index that reaches the threshold for rental stress which exceeds all other regions and capital cities.

A Kangaroo Point airconditioned apartment with one bedroom, one bathroom and one parking spot is $550 a week to tent.

“It’s deeply troubling to see that average regional Queensland renters have to put themselves in rental stress just to keep a roof over their head,” Ms Greenhalgh said.

“From the Gold Coast to Townsville, the shocking plunge in affordability is stark and widespread.

“Regional Queensland is now categorised as unaffordable, a significant shift from just three years ago when it was categorised as acceptable.”

Eumundi on the Sunshine Coast is the least affordable suburb in regional Queensland where the median rent of $1050 a week costs nearly 60 per cent of average household incomes, while $840 rents in Helensvale consumes nearly half a household’s income.

Both areas are classified in the index as being severely unaffordable, along with large sections of the Gold Coast.

Regional hubs including Toowoomba, Bundaberg, Rockhampton, and Townsville were listed in the index in 2020 as being affordable or very affordable.

This three-bedroom Indooroopilly house, also with two bathroom and two car spaces, costs $550 a week to rent.

But the areas surrounding these regions are now moderately unaffordable to unaffordable, which SGS Economics and Planning principal Ellen Witte said was particularly disturbing.

She said it indicated residents who were priced out of the Brisbane rental market were now struggling to pay for their accommodation.

“This downward spiral has now reached the point where very few affordable long-term rentals are on offer,” she said.

“We need to attack this problem from multiple angles.

“This means expanding social and affordable housing, rethinking how we use tax subsidies and strengthening renters’ rights.”

Queensland mother Amanda James has fallen victim to the widespread nature of Queensland’s affordability and availability crisis.

A house in Eumundi on the Sunshine Coast. The suburb is the least affordable in regional Queensland, where the median rent of $1050 a week costs nearly 60 per cent of average household income,

After multiple rejections for rental properties in Brisbane, the woman and her two children, Amelia, 8, and Olivia, 10, moved to the state’s outback city of Roma.

Ms James made the bold call to head west hoping housing options would be improved, but told The Courier-Mail “it’s even harder out here”.

“There’s only about five rentals available in Roma at the moment and a couple of them are already gone,” she said.

Ms James said she was “very depressed and very angry at the moment” because of the exhaustive process to try and find housing.

“I’m very tired and worn out,” she said.

She said she had had to pay nearly $500 to live in a caravan in unbearable heat while continually being knocked back from rental applications.

This Bardon townhouse, with two bedroom, two bathroom and two car spaces, costs $550 a week to rent.

Northwest Community Group’s Paul Slater launched a GoFundMe drive to help get Ms James and her children back to Brisbane.

He said the lack of services and increased competition in the regional city meant it was best the mother returned to South East Queensland, where it was hoped she would find appropriate accommodation.

Mr Slater has offered his home to the three in Brisbane while they find more permanent housing, which he said would allow the kids to return to school.

He said “housing should be viewed as a fundamental human right”.

“Every week we’re getting stories of people being evicted or being on the verge of homelessness with no housing available anywhere in the state,” Mr Slater said.