2025 Rental Affordability Snapshot

Rental report highlights critical issue for upcoming federal election.

Across the entire state, there is not a single property – even a room – affordable to someone on Jobseeker, Youth Allowance, Disability Support Pension, according to the Anglicare WA Rental Affordability Snapshot 2025.

Download our full report here.

Each year the Rental Affordability Snapshot measures the likelihood of individuals with low incomes finding a suitable home to rent in the private market.

The 2025 Snapshot shows the number of properties listed for rent on 15-16 March 2025¹ and includes five regions covering the whole state:

• Perth Metro
• South West & Great Southern
• North West (Kimberley & Pilbara)
• Mid-West & Gascoyne
• Wheatbelt & Goldfields

The household types we consider include:

• Single people receiving the Disability Support Pension, Youth Allowance, JobSeeker or the Age Pension, or earning minimum wage.
• Single parents receiving the Parenting Payment or earning the minimum wage.
• Couples without children on the Age Pension.
• Couples with children on JobSeeker, Parenting Payment, earning the minimum wage, or a combination of these income sources.

For the first time, additional payment supports such as the Energy Supplement, Basic Pension Supplement, and Pharmaceutical Allowance are also included.

A property is considered affordable if it requires less than 30% of a household’s income to rent. Paying more than 30% of your income is considered being in housing stress, while more than 50% is considered to be severe housing stress.

A property is considered appropriate if it has an adequate number of bedrooms.

Rental affordability is increasingly recognised as a significant issue in Australia. For many low-income Western Australians, this situation has reached a crisis level. Our 2025 Snapshot confirms the private rental market continues to fail them.

In 2024, positive progress has been made in enhancing social housing supply and amending the Residential Tenancies Act. Nevertheless, it is essential to accelerate housing development, reform rental laws further and substantially boost income support for renters.

Anglicare WA calls on both the Western Australian (WA) and Commonwealth governments to examine the 2025 Rental Affordability Snapshot and our policy recommendations as they shape their housing policies and plan their future budgets.

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