Australia’s rental affordability drops to worst levels in nearly a decade

New research has attributed much of the pressure on Australia’s housing and rental market to supply and impacts of the pandemic. Photograph: Andrew Merry/Getty Images

Australian rental affordability has dropped to its worst levels in nearly a decade, with the average household spending a third of its income on rent, as the impacts of the Covid pandemic continue to be felt on the market.

Lower income households pay even more, with more than half of their income going towards their rent, according to new research from ANZ and CoreLogic.