New research shows how much we’d need to increase Commonwealth Rent Assistance to bring retirees who rent out of poverty.
Articles on Commonwealth Rent Assistance
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Agencies that help people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness are struggling to house them because of the shortfall of social housing and intense competition for affordable rentals.
Only one-third of the top economists surveyed give Jim Chalmers’ third budget an A or a B, down from two-thirds in 2023. Many say it left big issues unaddressed.
Grattan Institute calculations suggest that the 200,000 homes the state and territory leaders have agreed to build over five years will result in billions in savings for renters.
We can do better than a grand-sounding big-bucks fund.
During lockdowns renters ‘voted with removalists vans’, moving out of share houses and in with each other.
Rent assistance can ease rental stress, but it won’t help low-income earners find secure and affordable housing when it’s in such short supply, nor stop disadvantage being concentrated in some areas.
Rent assistance is only $10-14 per day, well below rent levels.
The big increases quoted are for “asking rents”. The rents paid by existing renters are climbing more slowly.
Advertised rents have climbed 10% in the past year. A $250 boost to benefits and a six-month cut in petrol tax won’t much help.
Analysis of online listings on common online platforms shows even modest reductions in Airbnb listings increased supply of longer-term rentals. The result was lower local rents.
Most retired renters are in poverty, very few home owners are.
Most Australians get enough to live on in retirement. Some get more they get while working, but 30% get less, and boosting super won’t help them.
Some rent assistance is paid to households who don’t much need it. Others who do need it miss out.
The government is being pressed to bring back a particularly ineffective and wasteful scheme.
Top contributors
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Program Director, Housing and Economic Security, Grattan Institute
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Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University
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Deputy Program Director, Housing and Economic Security, Grattan Institute
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Emeritus Professor of Housing, UNSW
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John Curtin Distinguished Professor, Curtin University
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Senior Lecturer in Applied economics and econometrics, Curtin University
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Associate Professor, POLIS@ANU Centre for Social Policy Research, Australian National University
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Professor, Anthropology and Cultural Studies, University of Sydney
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Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Centre for Urban Research, RMIT University
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Adjunct Professor, Curtin Law School and Curtin Business School, Curtin University
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Associate professor, UNSW International Centre for Future Health Systems, UNSW
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Senior Research Fellow, City Futures Research Centre, UNSW
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Research Fellow, School of Communication, Society & Culture, Macquarie University
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Lecturer, UNSW
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Emeritus Professor, Urban Planning and Policy, University of Sydney