The recent Believe Housing Australia Rental Affordability Snapshot for 2025 reveals a grim scenario where an increasingly tight supply-demand dynamic is driving renters out of the market at concerning rates.
For individuals employed full time at minimum wage, rental affordability is a critical one percent and falls to nothing for those receiving Youth Allowance or JobSeeker Payment. For couples with children working full time at minimum wage, merely 12 percent of rental properties are within their financial reach.
In South Australia, the affordability challenges are especially severe. In Adelaide, rent has surged by 8.8 percent compared to last year, averaging $626 weekly, while affordability for low-income earners has dropped by 4.4 percent.
The competition for the limited number of available rentals remains intense, with low-wage workers and those on income support particularly disadvantaged. Additionally, the ongoing housing crisis is now impacting young students who hold part-time positions. Those most affected, including individuals, single parents, and young adults, are regularly unable to access the housing market.
During the recent inauguration of Believe Housing Australia’s $13.7 million project at Panorama, funded by the Federal Government’s Housing Australia Future Fund, I encountered several new tenants who exemplify the less visible aspects of the housing affordability issue.
Ali, a 25-year-old PhD student in molecular biology and casual academic, has taken residence in one of the Panorama units with his partner, who is pursuing a degree in pharmaceutical science. He shared his previous situation of living with parents in Elizabeth, over an hour's travel from Flinders University, as he spent two years searching for housing options that were either unaffordable or limited to studio apartments priced over $400 weekly.
Every new resident at the Panorama development, which offers quality homes at 25 percent less than the market price, has their own experience to share. They all earn low to moderate incomes and find it impossible to rent or buy in the private market, often lacking eligibility for social housing.
These individuals are precisely whom our state, facing an aging demographic, needs to retain and draw in – many of these individuals in their twenties and thirties are pursuing studies in healthcare and service sectors that urgently require their involvement.
Current statistics reveal a shocking truth: The prolonged decrease in social and affordable housing availability, combined with Government benefits and supplements falling behind inflation, has exacerbated the housing affordability dilemma.
Families and individuals find themselves compelled into situations of housing stress, overcrowding, or even homelessness. Presently, there are 58 families in Emergency Accommodation in South Australia (hotels/motels), typically staying up to eight weeks while awaiting social housing. Additionally, the Adelaide North West Homelessness Alliance receives an average of 53 calls each day from those facing the threat of homelessness.
While the South Australian Government's Housing Roadmap and its promise to provide 4,817 homes by 2026 show significant progress, the magnitude of the crisis requires additional action.
The administration needs to resume direct investment in housing by collaborating with community housing organizations like Believe Housing Australia, rather than relying solely on the private sector. We must broaden, increase fourfold, and hasten the creation of social and affordable housing initiatives through HAFF funding and persist in uplifting projects like this that are transforming lives within communities.
It is also essential to implement focused measures to support at-risk groups, such as students, essential workers, seniors, First Nations communities, individuals with disabilities, and those escaping domestic abuse.
Nevertheless, these supply efforts by themselves will not resolve the housing dilemma. The truth is that making housing attainable will necessitate a profound alteration in the political environment, where policies are crafted to maintain high rents and maximize profits for investors.
Without changing tax policies that benefit landlords and guaranteeing the construction of more social and affordable homes, renters will not experience any enhancement in market conditions.
Governments possess the means to effect change, but utilizing them will require bravery. With 74 percent of voters being homeowners, real transformation may not gain widespread approval. However, it will be equitable.
In our Panorama project, a new resident shared how stable, affordable housing changed his life—allowing him to concentrate on his future instead of merely getting by each week. When this impact is multiplied across generations, the potential becomes clear.
We already have the alliances, strategies, and political drive. Now what is needed is courageous leadership. Housing is not merely about structures; it is about providing individuals with a solid base to flourish.
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