News Corp Australia reported on April 23 that the latest rental affordability report shows that Australia's housing problem has reached an "unprecedented" level.
Charity Anglicare Australia called on the federal government to step up social housing construction in its annual rental affordability report released on Tuesday.
Of the more than 45,000 rental listings nationwide, only 0.6% (289) are affordable for full-time minimum wage earners.
(Image source: News Corp Australia)
Only 0.2 per cent of the listings are affordable for pensioners, and only 0.1 per cent for those receiving disability living allowance.
For people receiving youth allowances, there is not a single property that they can afford.
Anglicare Australia's executive director Kasy Chambers said: "The housing crisis has reached its worst level in history. "This is not an exaggeration, this has become the new normal in Australia. "It's never been worse for minimum wage earners, with rent affordability for singles halved over the past two years. ”
Even couples who both work full-time struggle to find a rental property, and nearly nine out of ten rental properties are unaffordable for them, she said.
(Image source: News Corp Australia)
"People receiving Centrelink subsidies are being completely left out of the housing market," Chamber said.
"Less than 1 per cent of rental housing can be afforded by a person receiving a pension or a living allowance for the disabled, and even 0 per cent for the unemployed, even if the maximum rental subsidy is included. ”
Cassandra Goldie, chief executive of the Council of Social Service Australia, said rents had risen by an average of 7% last year and more than 640,000 low-income families were waiting for suitable housing.
"As one of the richest countries in the world, we can't continue to put low-income people in a situation where they can't afford to live and shelter, and that's wrong," she said. ”
Chambers said the government must actively invest in social housing and not "favour private investors".
(Image source: News Corp Australia)
"It's wrong, it's driving up rents and house prices," she said. "The government should be spending billions of dollars on building the housing we need, not giving tax incentives to investors. ”
Max Chandler-Mather, a spokesman for housing for the Green Party, said the figures further underscore the need for the federal government to cap or freeze rent growth.
"The rental crisis is causing people pain and Labor needs to wake up and stop channelling billions of dollars into property investors through negative gearing and capital gains taxes, and instead put that money into public and community housing," he said.