Rents in Brisbane have risen by more than 65 percent over the past decade.
New research shows the Queensland capital had the third highest rate of increases of all capital cities over that time.
Anglicare Australia Deputy Director Maiy Azize said a new report for the national housing advocacy campaign Everybody’s Home found the rental crisis had reached unprecedented levels, with rents increasing by an average of 57 percent across Australian capital cities since 2015.
Ms Azize said over the past decade capital city average weekly rents (combined houses and units) had surged from $473 in 2015 to $742 this year.
She said Adelaide had the biggest rental increase of 81 percent, followed by Hobart (76 percent), Brisbane (66 percent) and Perth (63 percent).
“The sharpest increase occurred in the past three years, with rents rising 34 percent since 2022.”
Ms Azize said the new data also found social housing had declined from 4.7 percent of all homes in 2013 to 4.1 percent in 2024.
She said to reach 10 percent, Australia needed to build more than 54,000 new social housing dwellings every year over the next 20 years.
“This is a national crisis that is now pricing out everyday people right across the country. This report paints a clear picture of the damage that has been done, and without change it will only get worse.
“Once-affordable cities like Adelaide, Brisbane, Perth and Hobart are now suffering from some of the most acute rental pressures in the country.”
Ms Azize said with more Australians renting than ever before and being priced out of the private housing market, the need for more low-cost rentals was essential.
“Right now, around 4 percent of all homes are social housing. To reach 6 percent, Australia must build more than 36,000 additional social housing dwellings every year for the next decade.
“If we want one in 10 homes to be social housing, we need to build an extra 54,000 social homes every year for 20 years.
“Whichever way you look at it, the scale dwarfs current government commitments and lays bare both the enormous demand and decades of chronic underinvestment.”
She said Government action was needed that matched the scale of the housing crisis.
“Australian governments have stepped up and mobilised during other emergencies, from COVID-19 to natural disasters. Housing should be no different.”
Read the latest report: Out Of Reach: Australia’s Rental Crisis and the Decline of Social Housing.
