SUNRAYSIA renters are at risk of plunging into housing stress this year, when over a thousand Victorian properties are wiped from the national affordable housing scheme.
According to the latest federal government figures, this year more than 6,600 affordable homes nation-wide will be lost under the scrapped National Rental Affordability Scheme (NRAS).
The NRAS provides financial incentives to increase the supply of affordable rental housing, reduce the rental costs for low to moderate income household and encourage the large-scale investment and innovative delivery of affordable rental housing.
The loss of the affordable homes is likely to cause steep rent rises to those previously living in NRAS housing.
Victoria will lose 1,356 affordable NRAS houses this year, while Western Australia will see the loss of 1,110. In South Australia, 806 will be removed and NSW will lose 605.
Queensland will be hardest hit by the phasing out of the scheme, losing 2,499.
The program was developed by the Labor government under Kevin Rudd in 2008, but scrapped by the Tony Abbott government in 2014.
More than 36,000 affordable rentals will have exited the scheme by the time it ends in 2026.
National spokesperson for Everybody’s Home, Maiy Azize, said the losses come on top of Australia’s massive shortfall in social and affordable housing.
“Australia already has a social housing shortfall of 500,000 homes, and the rental market has never been tougher,” she said.
“These figures show that we’re losing even more affordable rentals at a time when Australians can least afford it.”
In North West Victoria, rental prices increased 8.4 per cent in the 12 months to October 2022, with the median price sitting at $354 a week.
According to Everybody’s Home, 25.4 per cent of Mallee renters are experiencing financial stress and the area has a social housing need of about 3000.
Ms Azize said with thousands of affordable rentals set to disappear, the federal government needed to step up and take action.
“We’re calling on them to build 25,000 new social homes each year to help end this crisis,” she said.
“More social housing would lift people out of rental stress, and free up more cheap rentals for people who need them.
“Many Australian suburbs have hit record high rents and thousands of tenants are in rental stress. The government can start changing that from this year if it’s ambitious enough.”
