Renters in Brisbane are paying more than $13,000 a year extra to a rent a house since the pandemic and more than $10,000 extra annually for units.
New research from Everybody’s Home, a national campaign dedicated to Australia’s housing crisis, found renters living in Australia’s capital cities were spending on average nearly $15,000 more a year to rent a house since January, 2020.
If found weekly rents for a house in Brisbane had risen by $259 since then, for an annual increase of $13,468, with unit rentals jumping $199 per week, for an annual rise of $10,348.
Everybody’s Home spokesperson and Anglicare Australia Deputy CEO Maiy Azize said the group analysed SQM Research on weekly asking rents data.
“It shows the shocking annual rise in rents that have been smashing Australians across the country since January, 2020,” Ms Azize said.
She said the analysis showed renters in capital cities were, on average, paying $14,700 more a year to rent a house, and $9600 more a year to rent a unit compared to the beginning of 2020.
“The biggest cost-of-living expense for most people living in Australia is keeping a roof over their head.
“The steep rise in rents is pushing more people into severe housing stress and homelessness.”
Ms Azize said people were sacrificing the necessities to afford rent, living in appalling unhealthy conditions because there was nowhere else for them to go, and ditching important life decisions because of housing insecurity.
She said Australians were being priced out of the cities where they work which could affect the liveability of cities and the quality of essential services.
“This Anti-Poverty Week, we’re calling on all Australians to back our call for more social housing to fix Australia’s housing crisis.
“We have a massive social housing shortfall of 640,000 homes, and that is set to rise to nearly one million in two decades.
“We need to end the shortfall and turn social housing into an option for more Australians – not just a safety net for those at the margins.”
