Low-Income Australians Priced Out of Most Rental Properties: Report

Anglicare is arguing for tax incentives for investors to be cut, but some say the issue is more about migration.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks to the media during a visit to a soon to be completed housing project in the suburb of Stones Corner in the electorate of Griffith in Brisbane, Australia on April 29, 2025. Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images

Research into rental affordability paints a dire picture for those still looking for a place to live, with those on lower incomes entirely priced out of certain markets.

The Anglicare Australia 2025 Rental Affordability Snapshot (pdf) surveyed 51,238 rental listings across Australia and found only 352, or 0.7 percent, were considered affordable for a person earning a full-time minimum wage.

The number of affordable properties dropped even further for those on government benefits.

Of the homes surveyed, just 0.3 percent were considered affordable for an aged pensioner, 165 were affordable for a disability pensioner, and 28 were affordable for those on Jobseeker payments.

No rentals were considered affordable for students on Youth Allowance payments.

For a family of four, where both parents are earning a full-time minimum wage, only 12.8 percent of properties were considered affordable, meaning an average family would be priced out of almost 87 percent of rentals.

For a single parent working full-time on minimum wage, the percentage of affordable properties drops to 2.6 percent.

According to Anglicare, secure and affordable housing provides a basis for maintaining steady employment, raising children, and ageing comfortably, but many Australians are now unable to achieve that basic standard.

Additionally, even though available rentals have increased from 45,000 in 2024 to 51,000 during the survey period in 2025, rents have not decreased, and in many cases have only risen higher.

Medium-density houses are seen in the western suburbs in Sydney, Australia, on Jan. 11, 2024. Jenny Evans/Getty Images)

“While supply is important, it is not the silver bullet for the housing crisis,” Anglicare said in a statement.

“Australia’s private rental system is not designed to provide affordable homes to renters, especially those on low incomes.”

“The housing system is not designed to provide housing, it is designed to provide profit,” the group claimed.

The report comes following the release of the 2025 Salvation Army Social Justice Stocktake, which revealed housing affordability was the biggest issue affecting voters in the lead-up to the May 3 election.

Anglicare Echoes Green’s Call to Reform Tax Incentives for Investors

Anglicare says tax incentives like negative gearing and capital gains tax were originally designed to incentivise investors to offer lower rents to tenants.

Negative gearing is a strategy that allows investors to deduct income tax losses when the rental income is lower than the cost of paying for the property.

While capital gains tax is paid on the profit after selling an investment property—a 50 percent discount is available if a property has been held for over 12 months.

Anglicare say negative gearing, coupled with capital gains tax, is allowing investors to outbid everyday Australians.

The group is arguing for changes to these taxes.

Analysis from the Parliamentary Budget Office shows that negative gearing deductions and the capital gains tax discount cost the federal budget nearly $11 billion in foregone revenue in 2023-24.

They further estimate that over the next decade, these costs will double, costing $21.4 billion to the budget bottom line by 2033-34.

Migration Rate Too High, Others Argue

However, some argue that a major issue is just the volume of migrants entering the country.

Matt Barrie, CEO of Freelancer, has said Australia is building houses and infrastructure faster than any other country, but the number of new residents was simply too high.

“Australia has the second highest rate of homebuilding from a major country in the developed world, not just in terms of newly constructed homes and housing stock, but also in terms of per capita rates,” he said.

“Australia has 869 cranes on construction sites nationwide, the second-highest on record after the quarter,” he said.

“Sydney alone has 390, and the vast majority of them are for residential apartments.

“In fact, Sydney has more cranes than New York, Boston, Toronto, Washington, Chicago, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Denver, Portland, Honolulu, San Francisco, Seattle and Calgary combined.”