NEW REPORT CONFIRMS MORE THAN ONE IN 10 HOUSEHOLDS FACE HOUSING STRESS

Australians for Affordable Housing (AAH) today released new data that shows housing stress now affects more than one in ten households, with 850,000 households at risk of financial hardship and poverty after paying for housing costs (please see attached).

Australians for Affordable housing commissioned the National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling (NATSEM) to update rates of housing stress across the country. The report, entitled Housing Costs Through the Roof: Australia’s Housing Stress shows how housing stress plays out in each state.

“Across the country, 25 per cent of renters and 15 per cent of first home buyers are in housing stress,” said Ms Toohey.

“There is an entrenched and significant group of people in Australia who face day to day hardship because of their housing costs, but it doesn’t have to be this way.

“There are clear actions that Governments can take to improve housing affordability and take the pressure off these households.

The Report shows:

• First home buyers in Melbourne are more likely to experience housing stress than those in Sydney
• Commonwealth Rent Assistance (CRA) recipients in Adelaide had the highest rates of rental stress
• Hobart had the highest rate of renters in housing stress at 33 per cent while Sydney has the highest number at over 100,000 households in rental stress.

“A secure home is a fundamental building block for everything else we do in life. We need to create a housing system that works for everyone,” said Ms Toohey.

Australians for Affordable Housing is a coalition of national housing, welfare and community sector organisations to highlight the problem of housing affordability in Australia. For more information visit www.housingstressed.org.au