Mortgage holders may breathe easier with a pause on interest rate rises this month but national housing campaign Everybody’s Home says there’s no reprieve in sight for the 30 per cent of Australians who are at the whim of their landlords.
Renters are spending record amounts across the country as average rents soar and the shortage of affordable homes remains chronic.
Everybody’s Home spokesperson Maiy Azize said renters won’t get a break from the soaring cost of housing like mortgage holders can when interest rates stabilise or start decreasing.
“Renters have been feeling the pain of rising costs for years, with rents surging even when landlords were benefiting from record low interest rates,” she said.
“We have been seeing huge rent increases every year for far longer than we’ve been seeing interest rate rises. But while interest rates have become a political crisis, politicians have not been made to answer for the fact that rents have gone up by $6,000 in the last three years alone.
“Renters should not be forced to accept these kinds of increases as the norm.
“Landlords will be able to breathe a sigh of relief as interest rates are put on hold. They can also write off their losses on tax, or pass them onto renters. But renters aren’t set to get a reprieve any time soon.
“Rent rises are now baked in as the number of affordable rentals dwindles. Our housing system is rigged against renters.
“We need the Federal Government to make the system fairer by building more social homes and winding back tax handouts for investors.” Media
