Aussies paid eye-watering $7.1b in rent

PHOTO: For Lease.FILE

The average renter has spent thousands more in rent in the past year just to keep a roof over their head, with warnings many are “struggling”.

Australians have paid an eye-watering extra $7.1 billion in rent over the past 12 months revealing the huge crisis in the market.

The average renter was forced to fork out an extra $62 a week more than they did a year ago or more than $3000 annually, found research from the parliamentary library commissioned by The Greens.

Rents have increased by a whopping 13.8 per cent, up from an average of $448 a week in June 2021 to $510 a year later, for households managed by a real estate agent.

The research examined 2.2 million rental properties nationally and found landlords had raked in an extra $7.1 billion between June 2021 and June 2022, pushing household costs up by $3151 a year.

The data did not include social and community housing, employer-provided housing and residential parks, as well as private rentals.

Renters are copping big rent rises. Picture: Gaye Gerard/NCA NewsWire

‘Out of control’

The Greens have called for a two year rental freeze, rent caps, an end to no grounds evictions and minimum rental standards.

“Rents are out of control, millions of Australians are struggling to pay the rent, and families are facing living in tents and cars because they can’t afford record rent increases,” The Greens’ spokesman for housing and homelessness, Max Chandler-Mather told The Guardian.

“When Australian renters have paid an extra $7 billion in rent over the last year alone, no wonder so many are struggling.”

He added the crisis meant people have to choose between buying food and paying rent and paying an extra $3000 a year could be the difference between homelessness or having a place to live.

However, the government has ruled at looking at rent freezes at this stage, adding it was providing cost of living relief via childcare, medicines and TAFE fees.

Max Chandler-Mather, Greens member for Griffith. Picture: Image/Josh Woning

Some rents up 45 per cent

Data from PropTrack revealed that rental properties Australia-wide are being snapped up faster than ever before.

The number of days it took a rental property to be leased after it was listed on realestate.com.au in July hit a historic low of 19 days across Australia.

Brisbane was even more badly hit with properties off the market within 15 days in Brisbane, 16 days in Adelaide and 17 days in Darwin, as a shortage of rental stock bites.

At a national level, total rental listings are now almost a third lower than pre-pandemic levels, PropTrack’s data showed.