Rental Affordability Snapshot 2020

The Rental Affordability Snapshot is designed to highlight the lived experience of looking for housing while on a low income. It focuses on the Australian population who earn the least income – Commonwealth benefit recipients and minimum wage earners. Every year, Anglicare Australia tests if it is possible for people on low incomes to rent a home in the private market. We do this by taking a snapshot of the thousands of properties listed for rent on realestate.com.au. This Snapshot (March 21-22 2020) shows once again that the private rental market is failing to provide homes for people on low incomes. It shows that social housing is an urgent priority, as are permanent increases to government income payments. On our snapshot day of 21 March 2020, there were 69,960 properties listed for rent across Australia. Just 526 properties were affordable and suitable for a single person on the Aged Pension.