Melbourne rent crisis: Where your suburb ranks on the pain scale, according to Suburbtrends

Tenants face pain in almost every corner of the Melbourne rental market, with 276 of the 337 suburbs across the city flagged as “not ideal” for tenants. SEARCH YOUR SUBURB

Sarah Petty

2 min read

July 16, 2023 - 12:00PM

News Corp Australia Network

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Tenants are facing pain in almost every corner of the Melbourne rental market.

New findings from real estate research company Suburbtrends shows 276 of the 337 suburbs assessed across the city were “not ideal” for tenants.

The firm’s Rental Pain Index takes into account factors like vacancy rates, advertised rentals, and rent price changes.

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Suburbs that score higher than 50 are considered “not ideal” for tenants looking for a rental. Those scoring higher than 75 were “awful”.

The suburbs suggested as the worst places find a rental are Pakenham, which scored an 84 on the pain index, Broadmeadows, 81, Thomastown, 78, Reservoir, 76, and Springvale, 76, based on their Rental Pain Index scores.

Suburbtrends founder Kent Lardner said at 26 per cent, Victoria’s average percentage of income spent on rent was lower than the national average.

But it was only just below 30 per cent, the standard definition of housing stress, and “severely unaffordable”.

“It’s a good thing for now, (but) equally it leaves the door open for further rent increases,” Mr Lardner said.

“The concern I’ve got is the Victorian average has been a 9 per cent increase in the last 12 months. When there’s room to grow, (landlords could think) is there wiggle room to squeeze more blood out of the renter’s stone?”

12 Fintonia Road, Noble Park is up for rent for $460 a week.

He added that experts had been warning politicians about a possible rental crisis for more than 20 years.

MORE: Australia’s top 25 most stressed suburbs for renters revealed

“The solution lies in increasing the availability of rental properties,” Mr Lardner said.

“While some politicians may advocate for a mass sell-off of investment properties, believing it would make housing more affordable for all, the reality could be a universal disruption.

“Even amid substantial price drops, renters might still remain locked out of the housing market, compounded by a reduced availability of rental properties.”

At present, only 110 suburbs in Melbourne have less than 1 per cent rental vacancy.

Council to Homeless Persons chief executive Deborah Di Natale said rental vacancy rates less than 2 per cent were considered a “big stress” on the market and Melbourne’s vacancy rate was currently 1.4 per cent, according to PropTrack figures released this week.