The options for renting an affordable home is becoming rarer for those in regional Australia according to a new report that spells out the dire state of the country's rental market.
There are only three postcodes in regional Victoria that are considered "affordable" and regional cities in NSW are also feeling the pinch according to the latest National Shelter Economics and Planning Rental Affordability Index.
Those looking for an "affordable" rental have the option of a home in Kerang in the state's north, Nhil in the northwest and Numurkah north of Shepparton.
Meanwhile rental affordability in Victorian regional centres Bendigo and Shepparton have also been described as "unaffordable".
"Unaffordability has spread from Melbourne to well into the regions," said Ellen Witte, Principal at SGS Economics and Planning.
Its a similar situation in NSW where both regional centres and smaller cities are becoming increasingly out of reach for many renters.
"We see in regional centres such as Bathurst and Orange rents are increasingly unaffordable but especially in those larger regional centres such as Newcastle and the Illawarra, people will be paying 30 up to 44 per cent of their income on rent," Ms Witte said.
The report found that just one suburb in the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie local government areas was affordable.
It looked at whether areas were affordable taking into account rents and household incomes. Suburbs were given a score on this criteria and then ranked across seven categories from "very affordable" to "extremely unaffordable".
Renters in capital cities fared even worse, with Sydney now equal with Hobart as the least affordable rental housing market across the country.
Western and south-west Sydney were previously among the most affordable regions of the city and considered in the affordable range in 20221.
However these have now deteriorated into unaffordable categories.
The Bankstown to Campsie corridor in the city's south-west had also dropped a category from "affordable" to "acceptable".
"Key workers in critical industries are travelling further and further and being priced out of the city," said Ms Witte.
While Melbourne remains the country's most affordable capital for renters, rental affordability has continued to decline from during the pandemic when rents dropped significantly.
Rents have risen 16 per cent over the past year, driven mainly by rapid price rebounds in one and two-bedroom apartments that now exceed pre-pandemic levels.
