Renters are on the frontline of this pandemic. Many are losing their incomes, and some are scared of being forced out of their homes. Welfare increases have given many Australians badly needed relief – but the private rental market is still failing people on the lowest incomes.
Age pensioners and people with disability have been left out altogether. Instead of looking after for them in the midst of a health crisis, we are leaving them to the mercy of the market.
These increases must become permanent, and they must go to everyone in need. We also need to invest in affordable housing.
Nobody should be squeezed out of the market during a health emergency. It’s time to make sure that everyone has a place to call home.
ACT & Queanbeyan
ACT & Queanbeyan
Housing costs in ACT are one of the greatest stressors on family budgets. Anglicare seeks to address this by providing crucial support for people at risk of homelessness through offering access to emergency housing, homelessness support and food relief, as well as case management support. We provide financial counselling and support to people in financial stress, many as a consequence of issues such as unemployment, health problems including mental illness, disability, and family violence. Anglicare strives to provide additional wraparound support to help people move beyond day-to-say survival towards long-term independence and sustainable living.
Anglicare NSW South, NSW West & ACT supports low income households in the ACT & Queanbeyan in a variety of ways:
- Supporting young people at risk of homelessness in supported housing programs
- Supporting young people to remain engaged in their education and transition to the workforce
- Supporting young carers who are at particular risk of difficult transitions to adulthood
- Providing disability support services
- Providing emergency relief and other food assistance programs, as well as low cost recycled clothing stores
- Providing subsidised rental units for aged pensioners
- Supporting at-risk young families to access subsidised early childhood education and care
On the Snapshot weekend of 21 March Anglicare 2020, there were 1201 private rentals advertised in the ACT & Queanbeyan region. Table 1 (below) shows how many properties were affordable and appropriate for our assessed 14 household types.
Southeast NSW
Goulburn, Cooma, Yass, Bega, Eurobodalla & Surrounds
Each year Anglicare surveys the private rental market to see if people on low incomes can afford to rent a home without putting themselves in financial stress and hardship. We do this by taking a Snapshot of properties listed for rent on realestate.com.au and gumtree.com.au on one weekend each year. We test whether each property is affordable and appropriate for 14 types of households on low incomes. We determine a suitable rental to be one which cost less than 30 percent of a household’s income, a commonly used benchmark for affordability[i]; and one that has an appropriate number of bedrooms. We are unable to assess appropriateness for particular mobility needs and the quality of the rental property.
This Snapshot covers the Capital Region in New South Wales excluded Queanbeyan[1]. Please note that data for Queanbeyan has been included in our Rental Affordability Snapshot for the ACT and Queanbeyan.
Over the last months many families have been affected by severe drought conditions and the unprecedented bushfires of last summer. At current they are all experiencing the effects of the measures put in place across our nation to limit the spread of COVID-19 – including record job losses and redundancies.
This year’s Snapshot contains two sets of findings: it shows the number of affordable and appropriate homes for rent for people on low income on the weekend of 21 March 2020. It then uses the same rental property listings to provide an analysis of what would change to affordability for low income households in Capital Region if the temporary Coronavirus Supplement increases to some government income payments, coming into effect at the end of April 2020, were made permanent.
On 20 March 2020 the Newstart Allowance, the main income support payment for recipients aged between 22 years to Age Pension qualification age who have capacity to work, changed name to the JobSeeker Payment. We use the term Jobseeker Payment throughout this report.
[1] LGAs within our catchment area include Eurobodalla, Bega Valley, Bombala, Goulburn Mulwaree, Harden, Bathurst Regional, Boorowa, Cootamundra, Cooma-Monaro, Palerang, Tumbarumba, and Snowy River.
On the Snapshot weekend of 21 March Anglicare found 411 private rentals advertised in the Capital Region. 172 rentals (42 per cent) are affordable and appropriate for at least one household type on Minimum Wage, whilst only 25 rentals (six per cent) are affordable and appropriate for at least one household type on income support payment. The table below shows how many properties were affordable and appropriate for our assessed 14 household types.
Western NSW
Orange, Bathurst & Surrounds
Each year Anglicare surveys the private rental market to see if people on low incomes can afford to rent a home without putting themselves in financial stress and hardship. We do this by taking a snapshot of properties listed for rent on realestate.com.au and gumtree.com.au on one weekend each year. We test whether each property is affordable and appropriate for 14 types of households on low incomes. We determine a suitable rental to be one which cost less than 30 percent of a household’s income, a commonly used benchmark for affordability[i]; and one that has an appropriate number of bedrooms. We are unable to assess appropriateness for particular mobility needs and the quality of the rental property.
This Snapshot covers the Western New South Wales – the Far West, Orana and Central West regions[1]. Over the last months many families have been affected by severe drought conditions and the unprecedented bushfires of last summer. At current they are all experiencing the effects of the measures put in place across our nation to limit the spread of COVID-19 – including record job losses and redundancies.
This year’s Snapshot contains two sets of findings: it shows the number of affordable and appropriate homes for rent for people on low income on the weekend of 21 March 2020. It then uses the same rental property listings to provide an analysis of what would change to affordability for low income households in Western NSW if the temporary Coronavirus Supplement increases to some government income payments, coming into effect at the end of April 2020, were made permanent.
On 20 March 2020 the Newstart Allowance, the main income support payment for recipients aged between 22 years to Age Pension qualification age who have capacity to work, changed name to the JobSeeker Payment. We use the term Jobseeker Payment throughout this report.
[1] LGAs within our catchment area include Balranald, Bathurst Regional, Bogan, Boorowa, Brewarrina, Broken Hill, Cabonne, Central Darling, Cobar, Coonamble, Dubbo, Forbes, Gilgandra, Lachlan, Lithgow, Narromine, Mid-Western Regional, Orange, Walgett, Warren, Warrumbungle Shire, Wellington, Upper Hunter Shire
On the Snapshot weekend of 21 March Anglicare found 843 private rentals advertised in the Western NSW. 549 rentals (65 per cent) were affordable and appropriate for at least one household type on Minimum Wage, whilst 199 rentals (almost 24 per cent) were affordable and appropriate for at least one household type on income support payments. The table below shows how many properties were affordable and appropriate for our assessed 14 household types.
Riverina Murray
Wagga Wagga, Albury & Surrounds
Each year Anglicare surveys the private rental market to see if people on low incomes can afford to rent a home without putting themselves in financial stress and hardship. We do this by taking a Snapshot of properties listed for rent on realestate.com.au and gumtree.com.au on one weekend each year. We test whether each property is affordable and appropriate for 14 types of households on low incomes. We determine a suitable rental to be one which cost less than 30 percent of a household’s income, a commonly used benchmark for affordability[i]; and one that has an appropriate number of bedrooms. We are unable to assess appropriateness for particular mobility needs and the quality of the rental property.
This Snapshot covers the Riverina Murray region in New South Wales[1]. Over the last months many families have been affected by severe drought conditions and the unprecedented bushfires of last summer. At current they are all experiencing the effects of the measures put in place across our nation to limit the spread of COVID-19 – including record job losses and redundancies.
This year’s Snapshot contains two sets of findings: it shows the number of affordable and appropriate homes for rent for people on low income on the weekend of 21 March 2020. It then uses the same rental property listings to provide an analysis of what would change to affordability for low income households in Riverina Murray if the temporary Coronavirus Supplement increases to some government income payments, coming into effect at the end of April 2020, were made permanent.
On 20 March 2020 the Newstart Allowance, the main income support payment for recipients aged between 22 years to Age Pension qualification age who have capacity to work, changed name to the JobSeeker Payment. We primarily use the term Jobseeker Payment throughout this report.
[1] LGAs within our catchment area include Albury, Balranald, Berrigan, Bland, Blayney, Carrathool, Cobar, Conargo, Coolamon, Cootamundra, Corowa Shire, Greater Hume Shire, Griffith, Gundagai, Harden, Jerilderie, Leeton, Lockhart, Murray, Murrumbidgee, Tumbarumba, Tumut Shire, Wakool and Wentworth.
On the Snapshot weekend of 21 March Anglicare found 523 private rentals advertised in the Riverina Murray regions. 343 rentals (66 per cent) were affordable and appropriate for at least one household type on Minimum Wage, whilst only 144 rentals (28 per cent) were affordable and appropriate for at least one household type on income support payment. The table below shows how many properties were affordable and appropriate for our assessed 14 household types
Looking for national data or data for another region in Australia? Visit Anglicare Australia.
