Renting has become the dark side of the great Australian dream of home ownership. The reality for the one in three Australians who rent is that they are paying for someone else’s dream and their costs only go one way: up.

Asking rents in Sydney for houses and flats have shot up between 10 and 25 per cent over the past 12 months. In Melbourne, they have jumped by almost 22 per cent. Experts including Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe predict there will be no let-up for renters. These hikes occurred while property prices in Australia’s biggest cities flatlined after years of soaring increases during the pandemic.

Yet governments, both federal and state, have closed their eyes to the iniquitous position imposed on people seeking a roof over their head who could not, for varying reasons, buy into the Australian dream. Politicians and, for that matter, the media, have been too focused on the ups and downs of the property market and ignored the plight of renters who have no skin in the game.

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A report by the federal government’s National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation (NHFIC) warns not enough properties are being built to meet demand and chronic rental shortages are expected to continue for years.

The shortfall of houses and units is being fuelled by population growth as new generations move into the market. Treasury also forecasts an influx of 650,000 migrants, with the reopening of Australia’s borders prompting the return of international students, working holidaymakers and skilled migrants, who are in high demand, thanks to a chronic shortage of workers.

The situation has been exacerbated by consecutive interest rate rises and increased costs of materials and labour that have cut homes construction and sent some building companies under. The report also says the availability of serviced land and ongoing community opposition to development further hindered new housing. The demand is huge: the NHFIC estimates that, conservatively, 377,600 households are currently in housing need: of those, 331,100 households are in rental stress and 46,500 households are experiencing homelessness.

While governments all have housing policies, renting remains the great undiscussed policy challenge of Australian politics. Even the Labor government’s legislation to establish a $10 billion fund supporting more social and affordable housing, and invest in acute housing needs, is being held up by opposition parties in the Senate.

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