Adelaide’s rental affordability at worst point in a decade

According to the data, the average metropolitan rental household in Adelaide earns $87,000 per year, and faces paying 27 per cent of their income on housing if renting at the median rate.

But as prices rise, stock is being stripped from some of the rental brackets that house some of the city’s most vulnerable.

Previously affordable rental corridors, such as the north-south stretch from Gillman to Bellevue Heights, have now lost their affordability status, and the report suggested that renters must now look at least 30 kilometres outside of the central business district in order to find an affordable home.

For a single person on Jobseeker living in Adelaide, 80 per cent of income would need to be dedicated to renting at the median rate.

A single pensioner would need to spend 48 per cent of their income on rent, while a single parent on benefits who works part-time must commit 49 per cent of their income towards rent.

Hospitality workers and students are among the other demographics that the report identified as being heavily impacted by Adelaide’s rental affordability crisis.

“What’s happening in Adelaide shows that Australia’s rental market is being pushed to the brink of disaster through a combination of soaring prices and low supply,” stated Alice Clark, CEO of Shelter SA.

“Even moving to the regions does not provide affordability relief anymore,” she explained.

“Outside of Adelaide, rents have risen by 12.9 per cent in the last year while affordability has declined by 8 per cent, adding even more pressure to rental households who have even lower average incomes of $76,000 a year in the regions.”

The issue of rental affordability in Adelaide has been on the radar for some time. Earlier this year, new data from Domain revealed Adelaide and Perth as Australia’s most unaffordable cities for renters, as vacancy rates in both cities dropped to just 0.3 per cent.

The remarkable stability of Adelaide’s property market, with strong sales and steady median home prices, has been identified as a boon for home owners, but it appears that the city’s renters are not experiencing the same benefits.