The Anglicare Rental Affordability Snapshot, released today, shows the state of the rental and housing crisis as the worst it’s ever been.

The Snapshot surveyed 51,238 rental listings across Australia and found that:

• 352 rentals (0.7%) were affordable for a person earning a full-time minimum wage
• 165 rentals (0.3%) were affordable for a person on the Age Pension
• 28 rentals (0.1%) were affordable for a person on the Disability Support Pension
• 3 rentals (0%), all rooms in sharehouses, were affordable for a person on JobSeeker
• No rentals were affordable for a person on Youth Allowance.

While Labor and the Liberals housing proposals have been widely panned by economists as even further driving up demand and prices, the Greens have made real action on the housing crisis a top issue in the election.

Under both Labor and the Coalition, property investors will receive $180 billion over the next decade in the form of negative gearing and the capital gains tax discount, which for decades have driven up house prices and locked first home buyers out of the market.

The Greens have urgently called for action to stop the housing crisis getting worse, including grandfathering negative gearing and the capital gains tax discount handouts to one property only, capping rent increases and a massive investment in genuinely affordable housing through the creation of a government property developer. 

The Greens have identified action on negative gearing and the capital gains tax discount as a priority in the next Parliament, including in minority government.

The Greens have also proposed introducing caps on rent increases and using the money saved from changes to negative gearing and the capital gains tax discount to fund a public property developer, which would build 610,000 homes over the next decade, to be rent and sold at capped prices.

Lines from Max Chandler-Mather, Greens spokesperson for Housing and Homelessness:

“It’s now impossible for millions of renters to find an affordable home because both major parties have decided that the one third of people in this country that rent don’t matter.”

“This is a red alert for renters. It’s time we make our voices heard and make it clear to the major parties we’re sick of being treated like second class citizens”

“How many reports demonstrating the true horror of the rental affordability crisis do Labor and the Liberals have to see before they finally take action?”

“Labor and the liberals will give $180 billion in tax handouts to property investors over the next decade - which all the experts say is turbocharging house prices and making this desperate situation even worse.”

“While the major parties tinker around the edges, the Greens will push to fund the construction of 610,000 genuinely affordable homes for renters delivered by a government developer, by scrapping negative gearing and the capital gains tax discount for property investors with more than one property.”

“For those renters one rent increase away from homelessness the Greens will keep fighting to cap rent increases and finally give the 7 million renters in this country protection from unlimited rent increases.”

“This election is a make or break moment for renters, and the only way we are going to see real action is if we get the Greens in a minority parliament keeping Dutton out and pushing Labor to act.”