Map reveals massive problem facing Aussie renters

A new rental affordability map has revealed the huge crisis facing Australian renters with those in every capital city in a worse position than they were before the pandemic.

Suburbs across a large swath of Eastern Australia are deemed unaffordable for renters, the latest Rental Affordability Index has revealed.

The unaffordable areas cover most of suburban Sydney and Canberra, as well as south eastern NSW, the Central Coast of NSW, the northern coast of NSW and much of south east Queensland.

Large parts of Tasmania, Adelaide, Perth, eastern Melbourne, regional Victoria and north western WA also fall into this category.

Rental affordability has worsened across most of Australia in the past year.

According to the Index, from SGS Economics and Planning, if a household is spending more than 30 per cent of its income on rent, it’s deemed unaffordable.

More than 40 per cent is deemed severely unaffordable while it’s deemed “extremely unaffordable” if a household is spending 60 per cent or more of its income on rent.

The Index uses average incomes and median rents to produce a score between 50 and 150 as an indicator of how affordable rents are relative to household incomes, with a lower score indicating an area is less affordable.

The index found that across Australia, renters are currently spending an average of 20 per cent of their income on housing, but the situation is much worse for low-income households.

“As it stands, 42 per cent of all low-income renter households are in rental stress, compared to 35 per cent in 2008,” the report said.

“This rises to 47 per cent for [low income] households in NSW.”

This compares to property owners, who are spending an average of 16 per cent on their mortgage repayments nationwide.

Across Australia, renting is unaffordable for Jobseeker recipients.

The Index found that renters in every capital city are now in a worse position than they were in 2019, before the pandemic.

Sydney is the least affordable capital city, followed by Hobart and Brisbane.

The least affordable suburb in Sydney, in terms of average household incomes in relation to rent, is Seaforth, where households are spending 54 per cent of their income on rent.

Rental affordability in Australia's capital cities.

Rental affordability across regional Australia.

In Melbourne, the least affordable suburb for renters is Brighton East, with residents there spending 38 per cent of their household income on rent.

The situation is not much better in regional areas, as the impact of city dwellers moving regionally during the pandemic – which rapidly increased regional rents – continues to bite.

With the exception of regional NSW vs. Sydney, rental affordability in regional areas of every other state is worse than in its capital city.

“Over the past year, affordability has worsened considerably in regional QLD, regional SA, and regional WA, declining by 7 to 8 per cent,” the report found.