{"id":19271,"date":"2019-05-30T19:02:35","date_gmt":"2019-05-30T11:02:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/media-release\/housing-stress-easing-for-home-owners-but-still-an-issue-for-renters\/"},"modified":"2022-12-06T13:50:27","modified_gmt":"2022-12-06T05:50:27","slug":"housing-stress-easing-for-home-owners-but-still-an-issue-for-renters","status":"publish","type":"media-release","link":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/media-release\/housing-stress-easing-for-home-owners-but-still-an-issue-for-renters\/","title":{"rendered":"Housing stress easing for home owners but still an issue for renters"},"content":{"rendered":"

Low-income earners and single parents are among the Australian households who are regularly struggling to meet their housing costs, a new report released by the Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre today shows.<\/p>\n

The report, Getting our house in order? BCEC Housing Affordability Survey 2019<\/em>, features findings from the third BCEC Housing Affordability Survey of 3,600 households in Western Australia, New South Wales and Queensland.<\/p>\n

It profiles how housing affordability has changed over time, and found that while median prices and rents have fallen due to a softening property market, this has not filtered down to low-income renters.<\/p>\n

More than half (52 per cent) of private renters surveyed were regularly struggling to meet housing costs, compared to 38 per cent of those with a mortgage and 56 per cent of all single parent households.<\/p>\n

Report co-author and BCEC Director, Professor Alan Duncan, said entry-level rents were creating housing stress, particularly for those on low and fixed incomes.<\/p>\n

\u201cºìÌÒÊÓƵ half of low-income single parents in WA who rent are in housing stress, spending more than 30 per cent of their incomes each week on their housing costs,\u201d Professor Duncan said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn WA, we are seeing that about one-fifth of renters are paying more than 40 per cent of their income on housing costs, leaving little money left over to purchase essentials for themselves and their families.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Professor Duncan said that a shortage of new, affordable rental properties coming onto the Perth market meant that real rental costs were not adjusting to alleviate the housing cost burdens faced by many low-income families.<\/p>\n

\u201cA typical family renting a mid-priced unit in Wanneroo would need to commit just under a fifth of their income in rent costs, but a lower income family would need to spend at least a third of their income on rent to afford even a lower-priced unit,\u201d Professor Duncan said.<\/p>\n

Report co-author Associate Professor Steven Rowley, Director of the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute ºìÌÒÊÓƵ Research Centre, said the report highlighted that low-income households were likely to be experiencing different levels of housing stress depending on whether they were renting or paying off their mortgage.<\/p>\n

\u201cTwo thirds of households with a mortgage can afford non-essential expenditure after paying their mortgage compared to just half of private renters after they pay rent. Sustaining high housing cost burdens affects mental health outcomes for about half of households in housing stress,\u201d Associate Professor Rowley said.<\/p>\n

The survey found that saving for a deposit was the biggest barrier to home ownership, with survey respondents significantly underestimating the amount they would require for a realistic deposit. Government help to meet the deposit requirements of banks was considered important by three quarters of survey respondents looking to purchase in the future.<\/p>\n

\"\"Associate Professor Rowley said that the WA Government\u2019s Keystart scheme had proved very successful in bridging this deposit gap, and the Federal Government\u2019s newly announced first home loan deposit scheme should look at the design of Keystart as a starting point.<\/p>\n

\u201cLow deposit home loans offer financially stable renters the option to transition into home ownership and the success of Keystart is one of the reasons WA has higher rates of first home buyers than any other state,\u201d Associate Professor Rowley said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith a drive towards infill, particularly transit-orientated development around Metronet, Keystart should look to implement more flexible upper price limits tied to these key transit locations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Associate Professor Rowley said policy interventions, such as an alternative to the National Rental Affordability Scheme (NRAS), which was axed in 2014, could go some way to providing affordable housing for renters.<\/p>\n

\u201cState and federal governments should deliver a replacement for the NRAS, through the use of investor tax incentives and community housing providers, in order to deliver a subsidised private rental market to those households that cannot afford market-level rents,\u201d Associate Professor Rowley said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout government intervention, many tenants may find themselves unable to afford rent either when they lose their NRAS entitlements, or when rents start to rise again as demand in the housing market increases.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, we can\u2019t expect state and federal governments to wear all the burden, and there is also a role for developers to play in delivering affordable housing. The direct provision of affordable units within new developments, or through financial contributions and subsidies, could go some way to providing diverse affordable housing options to suit varying household needs.<\/p>\n

\u201cPrivate sector investment can also lead to affordable, long-term and stable \u2018built-to-rent\u2019 housing, provided the Government creates favourable conditions for investment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Key findings from the report include:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Housing affordability in the West<\/strong><\/p>\n