According to new research from National Shelter’s latest Rental Affordability Index, rising rent prices within Australian cities are forcing Australian pensioners to reconsider where they live.
Single pensioners are having to pay more than 60 per cent of their income to rent within, or close to, the city centre, while couples are having to spend between 38 per cent and 68 per cent of their income.
“Too often we hear stories of age pensioners who are left to choose between using the last of their income to buy food or medication once they have met their obligations for rent and utilities,” said Ian Yates, COTA Australia Chief Executive.
“While we have welcomed the initiatives announced in the recent Federal Budget to alleviate some of the pressure, such as greater investment in community housing, and incentives to increase supply, more needs to be done to support struggling pensioners,” he said
If rental price trends continue within the inner suburbs, it’s only a matter of time before pensioners renting in these areas are forced to leave suburbs that they have called home for decades. The disruption and distress caused by this sudden change of environment and the move away from friendship and support networks could be devastating to their everyday lives.
Are you currently living on a pension and renting within an Australian city? Are you finding it difficult to pay the rent and your other everyday expenses? Are you considering moving to cheaper accommodation in order to make ends meet?
View the Rental Affordability Index interactive map
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