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Highlights:
- Average Australian has paid AU$3000 more rent than the previous year, indicated research commissioned by Greens from the parliamentary library.
- To offer cost of living relief, Greens, the political party, has asked to impose nationwide rent freeze for two years.
- Greens said if the rent freeze would have been announced a year ago, people would have saved AU$7.1 billion.
The housing crisis has been prevalent in Australia since many years and Aussies are trying to come into terms with a significant rent surge once again. According to a research commissioned by Greens from the parliamentary library of Australia, an average Australian renter paid AU$3000 more rent than the previous year. With this, Australians paid AU$7.1 billion extra rent in the last 12 months.
Greens, one of Australia’s largest political parties, said that AU$7.1 billion could have been saved if the Morrison government had frozen rents a year ago. Now, the political party asks for a nationwide rental freeze as it can offer a cost-of-living relief to Aussies.
More about rent increase
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics census data from 2021 and the research by SQM property research, the average rental has increased by 13.8%. In June 2021, it was, on average, AU$448 a week, and in June 2022, it has increased to AU$510 a week for those households which are managed by real estate agents. The figures would change when moving to private rentals.
Worth mentioning here is the figure does not include private rentals leased by relatives, employers providing housing and social and community housing.
Greens demand
According to a media source, Greens wants a national rental freeze for two-year. Also, the party is asking for ongoing rent caps, setting minimum standards for rental properties, end to no-grounds evictions and tenant rights to introduce minor improvements.
Max Chandler-Mather, Green’s spokesperson for homelessness and housing, gave a picture of the Australian housing crisis as he said,
He added if the existing government is concerned about affordable housing and cost of living relief, then there should be no issue with freezing rents.
Rental affordability became a topic of discussion, as the first budget is expected to come on 25 October 2022 and Jim Chalmers, treasurer, said that the cost of living will be an area of focus (according to a media source).
Chalmers added that the government was not thinking about a rent freeze but accepted that skyrocketing rent is one of the factors driving inflation in the economy.
