Hobart renters must earn about $130,000 a year before the median unit becomes affordable, a new report has found.
The fourth edition of the ‘Priced Out’ report by housing advocacy group Everybody’s Home compared asking rents with incomes ranging from $40,000 to $130,000.
It found Hobart is Tasmania’s least affordable rental market.
Someone earning $40,000 a year would spend 83% of their disposable income on the median unit rent, while a person earning $70,000 would still spend 52%.
Households earning $100,000 would spend 38% of their income on rent, above the 30% benchmark commonly used to define rental stress.
The report said it was only at annual incomes of around $130,000 that renting the median unit in Hobart became “comfortably affordable”.
It found the problem extends beyond the capital.
The east coast and Launceston are the toughest markets outside Hobart, with people earning $40,000 spending 68% and 69% of their income on rent respectively.
The West Coast and Burnie are more affordable, although lower-income renters there still spend between 55% and 65% of their income on housing.
At $70,000 a year, renters across most Tasmanian regions spend well over a third of their income on rent.
The report said rental stress had become a statewide challenge in Tasmania rather than one confined to Hobart.
Nationally, the median unit rent has climbed 65% since March 2020, rising from $372 to $614 a week.
The report argues Australia’s private rental market is no longer delivering affordable housing across a wide range of incomes.
It calls on governments to build 940,000 public and community homes over 15 years, strengthen renter protections and lift income support payments such as JobSeeker to the Henderson Poverty Line.
The report also backs national limits on rent increases and an end to no-grounds evictions.
