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The federal government must prioritise ending Australia’s massive social housing shortfall, Everybody’s Home said, as a new report reveals housing stress is the fastest growing main factor triggering homelessness.

This year’s Australian Homelessness Monitor reports a 36 percent rise in new service users citing housing affordability stress as their primary reason for seeking support from homelessness services in the three years to 2023-24.

The research by UNSW in partnership with Homelessness Australia also found that in recent years, the risk of homelessness has been affecting a broader range of people, with an increasing proportion of workers seeking crisis support.

Everybody’s Home spokesperson Maiy Azize said: “Australia’s worsening housing crisis is fueling the rise in homelessness. People simply cannot afford insanely high rents week after week – it’s pushing many into housing stress, leading them to sleep in cars or improvised dwellings, and on couches or the streets.

A new report revealing the unaffordability of housing for Australia’s essential workers underscores the urgent need for bold government action to end the crisis, Everybody’s Home said.

Released on Anti-Poverty Week (13-19 October), Anglicare’s special edition of the Rental Affordability Snapshot shows less than one percent of rentals are affordable for full-time workers in hospitality, construction and early childhood. 

Even workers with the highest award wages could only afford 3.7 percent of rentals. 

A statement from Everybody’s Home: “From essential workers, to people on the lowest incomes, millions of people are struggling to afford their biggest cost-of-living expense: rent. Housing stress and homelessness are far too high in our wealthy country.

New analysis reveals that renters living in Australia’s capital cities are spending on average nearly $15,000 more a year to rent a house since the pandemic.

To kick off the first day of Anti-Poverty Week (13-19 October), Everybody’s Home has analysed SQM Research weekly asking rents data, showing the shocking annual rise in rents that have been smashing Australians across the country since January 2020.

The analysis shows renters in capital cities are on average paying $14,700 more a year to rent a house, and $9,600 more a year to rent a unit compared to the beginning of 2020.

Sydney and Perth have seen the steepest rent rises, with the annual increase well above the capital city average for both units and houses. Adelaide and Brisbane unit rents are also above the capital city average.

A new Everybody’s Home report reveals that Australians on the lowest incomes are being priced out of renting in virtually every corner of the country, despite a rise in Centrelink payments and rent assistance. 

The ‘Priced Out’ 2024 report shows people who primarily rely on Centrelink payments and the full-time minimum wage would be in severe rental stress across all capital cities and most regional areas. 

The report applies Friday’s indexation increase to Centrelink payments and 10 percent rise to Commonwealth Rent Assistance (CRA) with indexation on top, with the findings underscoring the need for more social housing and for payments to reflect the cost of housing.  

Key findings include: 

Everybody’s Home is urging parties and candidates to sign on to a roadmap for housing reform ahead of the election, as new polling reveals most voters want house prices to drop.

The national housing campaign’s ‘Roadmap to Reform’ puts forward real solutions to end Australia’s housing crisis.

RedBridge polling of 2,000 Australian voters released by Everybody’s Home reveals:

• More than one in two (54%) want house prices to go down over the next five years, while one in five (21%) want prices to increase
• Even people with mortgages want to see house prices come down, with two in five (44%) supporting a drop, compared to one in four (28%) wanting prices to rise
• Seven in ten (72%) renters want house prices to fall.

The polling also finds:

The People’s Commission into the Housing Crisis has released its final report, revealing the crushing consequences of homelessness, housing stress and insecurity in Australia, and recommending a suite of urgent reforms.

Convened by Everybody’s Home, the People’s Commission’s report is based on the submissions and testimony of more than 1,500 Australians who voiced their experiences of the housing crisis and the action they want government to take.

The People’s Commission recommends the federal government create at least 750,000 social homes within two decades, end investor tax concessions, and coordinate strong national rental reform. 

Other recommendations include: expanding social housing eligibility, recognising housing as a human right, raising the rate of working age payments, additional funding for crisis housing services, and improving productivity in home building by increasing the capacity of the modular housing industry.

Everybody’s Home has acknowledged the appointment of Australia’s new housing and homelessness minister, and said it presented a renewed opportunity to scale up the government’s ambition on housing.

Everybody’s Home spokesperson Maiy Azize said: “A new minister presents an opportunity to build on the government’s plans for housing. We look forward to working with Minister Clare O’Neil on what we hope will be an ambitious policy agenda ahead of the next federal election. 

“Housing is one the biggest issues for voters – there’s not much more important to the electorate than a home but securing safe, decent, affordable housing has never been so tough for them. 

“Today, we’re writing to Minister O’Neil welcoming her appointment and briefing her on the recent findings of Australia’s first People’s Commission into the Housing Crisis. The People’s Commission has underscored the extent of the housing crisis across the country, with hundreds of Australians telling us they want urgent action.

“Australians are relying on the government to be bold in their ambition. To make a lasting impact we must drastically scale up social housing to meet the 640,000 shortfall.

“The government must also prioritise housing fairness by scrapping investor tax breaks and coordinating protections for renters. 

“Making housing more affordable for more Australians is possible if the government has the ambition and the willingness to act.”

Everybody’s Home is urging the government to rapidly step up its efforts to ease the housing crisis, as new figures reveal the stubbornly slow growth and low proportion of social housing in Australia.

New Australian Institute of Health and Welfare data shows the proportion of households living in social housing is shrinking – dropping from 4.7 percent in 2013 to 4.1 percent in 2023. 

Meanwhile, the number of social homes grew by just 2,870 between June 2022 and June 2023 – all while more than 184,000 households officially sat on a waitlist.

Everybody’s Home spokesperson Maiy Azize said the glacial pace of social housing growth is failing to meet demand.  

“Australia is only building about 3,000 social homes every year – at this rate, it would take us more than 200 years to build enough homes just to meet today’s need,” Ms Azize said.

A fresh analysis reveals Australian renters are spending thousands more each year to keep a roof over their heads since the pandemic, as the final day of the People’s Commission into the Housing Crisis hearings get underway.

Everybody’s Home’s analysis of SQM Research weekly asking rents data shows those in regional Australia are on average spending $153 more each week compared to June 2020 – that’s nearly $8,000 extra per year at current rental prices.

Today, the national housing campaign will hold the third and final day of People’s Commission hearings online from 10am Tuesday to explore the housing crisis’ effect on the following communities: First Nations, regional, remote, and disaster-impacted. 

Recommendations to fix the crisis will also be explored.

Top 10 regional areas hit with the largest $ rental increase since June 2020

As Australia’s first People’s Commission into the Housing Crisis gets underway today, submissions reveal the majority of respondents are in housing stress and forgoing the basics to cope. 

The People’s Commission, convened by Everybody’s Home, received more than 1,500 survey submissions which show:

• Three in five (58%) respondents are in housing stress 
• Three in four (76%) of those who rent are in housing stress 
• The top ways respondents are coping with housing costs are by reducing energy use like heating or cooling their homes (52%), avoiding the doctor and essential appointments (45%), and reducing vehicle use (39%)
• One in three are skipping meals (32%), or relying on credit cards or buy now pay later (31%).  
• Uncertainty about the future (67%) and increased housing costs (61%) are the top reasons for concern about the housing crisis.

Dozens of organisations have also lodged submissions to the People’s Commission.

Statement from Everybody’s Home spokesperson Maiy Azize on the federal Budget:

“The federal government has delivered a Budget that will keep pushing up housing costs for Australians who are already battling a brutal housing market.

“There is no new funding for social housing. What the government has announced is a business as usual spend that is nowhere near enough to shift the dial on the housing crisis.

“The government’s ‘new’ funding for social housing is a repackaging of existing initiatives, offering loans instead of providing real funding, and the continuation of a funding agreement with the states and territories – something the Commonwealth routinely renews for other essential services like education and health.

“An increase to Commonwealth Rent Assistance will provide some short-term relief, but it’s not a lasting fix. It isn’t enough to keep up with rising rents, and it doesn’t go to all of the people who need it.

“If the government was serious about tackling this crisis, it would build more social housing to end the massive shortfall. These are the rentals people can actually afford. A target for the private sector will only deliver more of the same – homes that are way too expensive for average people. 

“Any Budget that seriously tackles the housing crisis would also stop using unfair tax handouts to prop up landlords and investors, pushing up the cost of housing for everyone else. The Treasurer ruled out making those changes well ahead of Budget day.

Everybody’s Home has urged the federal government to increase its social housing target and back it up with funding in next week’s Budget if it’s serious about easing the crisis.

Right now, just three percent of homes that the government wants Australia to build over the next five years are set to be social housing.

As the government confronts warnings it will fail to meet its 1.2 million housing target, Everybody’s Home spokesperson Maiy Azize said building more social housing was essential.

“If the government is serious about making housing affordable, it must step up and build social housing,” Azize said.

“It’s clear that the private market can’t meet the government’s target, and their track record shows us that these homes won’t be affordable for most people. Social housing is guaranteed to be affordable for people – and at scale, it pushes down the cost of housing for everyone.

“The government describes its national housing target as ambitious, but it’s lacking ambition when it comes to bringing down the cost of housing. Only three percent of their target will be social housing.

“There is no use building homes that people can’t afford. The government must end the social housing shortfall – and aim for 10 percent of all homes in Australia to be social housing.

“We need a Budget that matches the scale of this crisis. Housing in Australia has never been so unaffordable and unfair. Without a huge increase in social housing, it will only get worse.”

Everybody’s Home is urging the federal government to boost social housing in its upcoming Budget, as a new report paints a dire picture of rental affordability across the country. 

Anglicare’s Rental Affordability Snapshot lays bare a harsh reality: affordable rentals are almost non-existent for those on income support, and scarce for full-time minimum wage earners. 

The report also shows increases to rental supply in parts of the country hasn’t made renting more affordable.  

Everybody’s Home spokesperson Jennifer Kirkaldy said more social housing is key to easing the housing crisis.

“Every year the Rental Affordability Snapshot serves as a sobering reminder: the housing crisis deepens the longer that the government fails to act,” Ms Kirkaldy said.