Where you can find dirt cheap rental properties in Australia (and the suburbs that are still out of reach)

The global pandemic has seen rental prices spike in some in-demand areas, while prices are going down in others. See where your postcode rates.

Exclusive: More than one in seven postcodes across Australia are now unaffordable for renters on an average income, new data reveals.

The list, given exclusively to News Corp, shows that these households in 119 postcodes across the country – excluding the Northern Territory – spend more than 30 per cent of their budget on rent, putting tenants under financial stress.

The data by SGS Planning and Economics found the most unaffordable postcodes are now regional towns along Australia’s east coast, where the spike in rents is being blamed on the influx of high income earners moving from the cities because they can now work remotely.

Byron Bay is the least affordable place to rent in Australia.

Bohemian holiday spot Byron Bay tops the list for the most unaffordable rental property, with another popular vacation destination Noosa Heads on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast and Billinudgel, just north of Bryon Bay, in second and third spot.

The most affordable place to live is Lakemba, in Sydney’s west, which has a diverse ethnic population; Bateman, a quiet suburb of Perth and Carlton, popular with university students in Melbourne.

Homeless charity Mission Australia said the most vulnerable were facing “enormous pressures with escalating rental stress” and being pushed to the verge of homelessness.

“Finding an affordable home to rent has never been so difficult,” Mission Australia Executive, Ben Carblis said.

SGS Planning and Economics Senior Associate Kishan Ratnam looked at the average household income of renters in each area or region and compared them with the cost of rentals.

While Byron Bay is the least affordable place to rent, Lakemba in Sydney’s west is the most affordable.

Mr Ratnam said in June 2021, the median rental rate in Byron Bay required an annual household to earn $139,000 to avoid rental stress – up 33 per cent in one year.

He said even a dual-income family earning $200,000 and seeking a four bedroom home there would still have to spend more than 30 per cent cent of its joint income on rent.

Mr Ratnam said the pandemic and lockdowns have “intensified rental stress in many coastal and other regional centres” making some areas simply unaffordable for locals.

“Coastal towns across the eastern states are among the least affordable locations in the country, with the average rental household needing to spend over 40 per cent of their income if renting at the median rate,” he said.

Carlton is one of the most affordable suburbs to rent in Australia. Pictured are house mates Jane Eldershaw, Eleanor Pollock, Jacqui Krew, and Jessica Barris. Picture: David Caird

At the other end of the list is the Melbourne suburb of Carlton, where the average rent for a unit has dropped from $450 to $330 since Covid hit, due to a decrease in international students caused by border closures.

Eleanor Pollock, 25, a consultant for Deloitte, pays $300 a week for a room in a shared house with three other professionals and can’t believe her luck.

“The location is perfect,” she said. “I don’t plan on moving out for a long time.”

Woodards property manager Simon Fung said Carlton “was the place to be” and Covid had driven prices down in inner city postcodes meaning renters can find a real bargain.

Originally published as Where you can find dirt cheap rental properties in Australia (and the suburbs that are still out of reach)