New rental affordability figures released today by Anglicare Victoria show that renters are the real victims of Australia’s housing crisis.
“We have heard a lot in this election campaign about how both major parties are wanting to enable people to realise the ‘Australian dream’ of owning your home, but there is also an Australian dream that supersedes this – which is actually having a home to live in,” Anglicare Victoria CEO Paul McDonald said.
“Neither major party is doing enough for those who are struggling to find somewhere affordable to rent that doesn’t put them immediately into housing stress.
Anglicare Victoria’s 2025 Rental Affordability Snapshot (RAS) is an annual survey of available rental properties, which measures their affordability for people receiving minimum wage or relying on income support payments.
“For people getting by on support payments, the 2025 Rental Affordability Snapshot shows that private rentals are almost impossible to secure. After decades of under-investment, Victoria has the lowest proportion of social housing in the country,” Anglicare Victoria CEO Paul McDonald said.
“Over 65,000 Victorians are currently on the public housing waiting list. The number of young people under the age of 25 on the wait list is growing, as is the number of those waiting for housing that are fleeing family violence.”
According to this year’s RAS, no available rentals in the state were affordable for singles on Youth Allowance or JobSeeker.
“Young people leaving state care are at high risk of homelessness, and allocate a proportion of public housing exclusively for this group of young people.”
The RAS also found just one property was affordable for a single parent with a child over 14 who relies on Centrelink as their sole source of income.
“The rental affordability situation is so dire, some parents trying to escape violence with their kids have no choice but to head back into the lion’s den. It’s that or homelessness.”
The RAS found some on minimum wage fared better – but only if they were in metro Melbourne. Thanks to the minimum wage boost and a 1.7 per cent dip in Melbourne rents compared to the year before, minimum wage workers in the city were able to afford 19 per cent of the available properties – up from 14.5 per cent in 2024. In regional Victoria, rents increased by 3.6 per cent.
The state government’s 2023 Housing Statement pledged to deliver 260,000 homes over the next 10 years, but only around 700 additional social homes.
“The real implications of this data we see walking through our doors every day. That’s families and individuals on the brink of homelessness, who can’t afford a roof over their heads as well as food, medication, transport, and all the other costs that keep rising,” said Mr McDonald.
“The fact is, we need at least 60,000 new social housing properties over the next decade to meet demand. Right now we are seriously lagging and every day more people are being left behind.”
What we found in the 2025 Rental Affordability Snapshot:
- Families without paid work are priced out of the rental market. Across the state, just 127 of 16,219 individual properties were suitable for at least one household type living on income support payments, a decrease of 28 per cent on the 176 properties that were suitable in 2024.
- More properties in metropolitan Melbourne were affordable for people on minimum wage. In 2024, only 1445 properties (14.5 per cent) were affordable for those on minimum wage, compared to 2587 (19.2 per cent) in 2025.
- Availability has remained steady, but affordability has declined for those living in the regions. There were 2751 properties listed for rent in regional Victoria on Snapshot day, a similar result to the 2776 in 2024. Just 3.6 per cent were affordable for those on income support.
- The most vulnerable cohorts continue to be left behind. There were no properties that met the affordability criteria for singles on JobSeeker, and only five properties in the state that were affordable for a person on the Disability Support Pension.
- Our population is growing, and construction isn’t keeping up. Melbourne is tipped to become Australia’s most populous city within the next ten years. If demand continues to outstrip supply, the rise in rents will push the most vulnerable in our community to the brink.
About the Anglicare Victoria Rental Affordability Snapshot 2025:
Anglicare Victoria’s 2025 Rental Affordability Snapshot (RAS) was conducted as part of a nationwide snapshot undertaken by Anglicare Australia – a yearly survey analysing the affordability of rental properties for those living on low incomes, such as those earning the minimum wage or receiving Commonwealth income support payments.
To be considered suitable and affordable, properties must be priced at less than 30 per cent of a household’s total income and have enough bedrooms to avoid overcrowding.
In Victoria, the RAS surveyed 31 local government areas (LGAs) in metropolitan Melbourne and 47 LGAs in regional Victoria.
The data collected was used to calculate the proportion of these listings that would be both appropriate and affordable for 14 different household types including individuals, couples and families living on the minimum wage or a Commonwealth income support payment or pension, including relevant supplements.
For more information or to arrange an interview with an Anglicare Victoria spokesperson, or to discuss a case study relevant to the above, please contact the AV media team on 0419 035 117 or media@anglicarevic.org.au.
