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Landmark High Court Decision Exposes the Rental Crisis in Australia
“We’ve got mould in the bathroom. It’s a real health risk for all of us but especially for her,” says Amy looking at her sleeping 3-month-old daughter, safely cradled over her shoulder.
She and her husband Luke have started looking for another rental because their current landlord refuses to address even the smallest requests.
Luke adds, “They didn’t do anything about the flooding that happens at the back doorstep. And it’s pretty much causing the whole building to slowly sink.” Their modest $550 per week budget — in the northern suburbs of Adelaide — is making them anxious about finding anything better.
Rental situation
Amy and Luke are among thousands of Australians struggling to find affordable housing with the nationwide rental vacancy rate on life support, hovering around a record low of 1.0% for almost 2 years now — according to SQM Research.
Subtrends, a property and data analytics company, founder Kent Lardner says, “These strikingly low vacancy rates exacerbate the existing rental stress.” His company’s latest Rental Pain Index shows NSW and QLD as the main centres of rental stress, where…
