Chris Martin and Laurence Troy write in The Conversation (18.5.17) about their research, partly funded by Queensland’s state government and Tenants Queensland, into rental affordability. The authors argue that almost nowhere in our capital cities, and increasingly in our regions, can low-income households afford the median rent.
‘Two new tools for measuring and visualising problems in our rental housing system are in the media this week. They have similar names – the Rental Affordability Index (RAI) and the Rental Vulnerability Index (RVI) – but use different methods to offer distinct but complementary perspectives. Together they reveal that almost nowhere in our capital cities can low-income households – and those on average incomes in Sydney – afford the median rent. Mapping rental vulnerability reveals households in regional areas are struggling too.
‘The RAI is a project of National Shelter, the peak housing NGO, and SGS Economics and Planning. It gives us a bird’s-eye view of rental housing costs over most of Australia. It does this by showing how affordable the median rent (the midpoint of all rents) is – or isn’t – relative to incomes in each postcode.
‘An alternative approach considers where and in what proportion renters are actually in stress. We might also consider a range of other factors that indicate where and in what proportion renters are vulnerable to problems in accessing and keeping decent, secure housing. This is the approach we’ve taken with the RVI.
‘… The takeaway from this? Housing problems are multidimensional and extend beyond the capital cities. Regional areas have a pressing need for services – such as tenants advice services – that give vulnerable households material assistance in dealing with housing problems.
‘But more than that, we need to build up the economic and social capital of these places – so that they offer greater opportunities for the vulnerable households who are concentrated there – just as we need policies to increase affordable housing opportunities in our cities.’
- Two pictures of rental housing stress and vulnerability zero in on areas of need »
- Rental vulnerability index shows need in regional Queensland »
- Is this the budget that forgot renters? »
- Get used to your commute: data confirms houses near jobs are too expensive »
- Where Queenslanders are struggling to pay their rent »
- Six lessons on how to make affordable housing funding work across Australia »
- Ten lessons from cities that have risen to the affordable housing challenge »
- Renters Beware: how the pension and super could leave you behind »
- Regional Queensland worst in Australia for rental stress, report finds »
- Flat wages and soaring house prices are condemning Australians to a lifetime of renting »
- Rental affordability snapshot proves Australia’s coronavirus welfare payments should stay »
- Queensland Government ‘Build-to-Rent’ scheme for affordable housing fails to produce a single property »
- $1 billion per year (or less) could halve rental housing stress »
- Australian government’s housing policy continues to ignore low income earners »
- Support needed to help millions of Australian renters with rising cost of living, experts say »
- Housing crisis deepens as rents ‘explode’ and vacancies vanish in Brisbane »
- Tiny and alternate houses can help ease Australia’s rental affordability crisis »
- The poor planning decisions causing outer suburban mortgage stress, car reliance »
- Tenants angered as Brisbane building owner seeks to turn all units into Airbnb accommodation »
- More than 200,000 people could move to Queensland over the next five years, property council survey finds »
- Renters in every capital city worse off as affordability in the regions deteriorates, Rental Affordability Index shows
- Housing crisis: Rental affordability goes from bad to worse
When ‘having it good’ leaves you with nothing: life as a renter on the poverty line
Kristin O’Connell comments in The Guardian (8.8.22) on the precarious nature of living in rental housing and the need for policy action to safeguard the livelihoods and shelter needs of renters in the sector.
‘It’s never been more obvious that those in the business of exploiting our need for shelter have no shame.
‘Everyone’s wellbeing is affected by their living environment, but as an autistic person with a few psychosocial disabilities thrown in, I’m more sensitive than most. My current home has given me more stability than I’ve ever had – more than two years without an extended period of total breakdown.
‘I’m on the public housing waiting list, just a few decades away from escaping the private rental market. In June I got a call from my real estate agent. On a month-to-month lease since August 2020, I feared my time was up.
‘The thought of leaving my home makes me sick. Moving house is stressful for anyone, but my executive function hindered by disability, the task is guaranteed to destabilise.’
- When ‘having it good’ leaves you with nothing: life as a renter on the poverty line »
- Brisbane university accommodation prices match rental jump, pricing out students »
- Cracks starting to appear in rental crisis but foreign students filling empty spaces
- Australian property: Rental system is broken for tenants and landlords, report says
- Why are rents in Australia increasing? The root cause may be more to do with COVID than interest rates and immigration
- ‘Cascade effect’ pushing people into homelessness after rental prices, property scarcity hit records
- Rent in Australian capital cities climbs record 11.7% in 12 months
- A series of unfortunate events: The inside story of how one hail storm triggered state’s housing crisis
- Change on the way to improve housing accessibility, but what about existing public housing stock?
- ‘I’m obviously not first choice’: rental crisis forcing older Australians back into share houses
- Rental crisis victims ignored by policymakers, and I think I know why
- Plan for Gabba tower cites affordable housing … but doesn’t include any
- Outer suburbs’ housing cost advantage vanishes when you add in transport – it needs to be part of the affordability debate
- Australian house prices look set to rise despite the rate hikes. This isn’t great given how expensive they already are
- The rental housing crisis is hurting our most vulnerable and demands a range of solutions (but capping rents isn’t one of them)
- What broke the rental market?
- We can reduce the rent in Brisbane, but not by banning Airbnb
- Brisbane planning laws keeping poor out of city’s most desirable suburbs, research suggests
- Poverty and Australian housing: findings from an Investigative Panel
- Insecure renting ages you faster than owning a home, unemployment or obesity. Better housing policy can change this