Rental Affordability Snapshot 2020: Anglicare Victoria – Victorian rental market Introduction Anglicare Victoria’s 2020 Rental Affordability Snapshot (RAS) was conducted as part of the national Snapshot undertaken by Anglicare Australia. The RAS is an advocacy and media tool developed by Anglicare Australia to initiate conversations around housing issues for lower income households and to lobby for policy changes on rental affordability at the national and local levels. The Victorian Rental Affordability Snapshot 2020 covered 31 Local Government Areas (LGAs) from across metropolitan Melbourne, as well as 48 LGAs from the regional and coastal areas of Victoria. The aim of the Snapshot is to calculate the proportion of advertised rental properties that are both affordable and appropriate for different household types on the minimum wage, or on a Commonwealth income support payment or pension. These individuals and families make up much of Anglicare Victoria’s client base within our family support programs, family violence services, alcohol-and-other-drug treatment programs, out-of-home-care services, and other program areas. These are some of our society’s most vulnerable people.
Method To be determined suitable, dwellings must satisfy tests of both affordability and appropriateness for a range of low income household groups. Household groups comprise single people and family groups living on different levels of Commonwealth income support and/or the minimum wage.
How was affordability defined? The RAS defines an affordable rental as one which costs less than 30% of the household’s total income. The 30% benchmark is commonly used as an indicator of housing stress amongst low income households. If the household is paying more than 30% of its income in rent, then it is in “housing stress’ and the housing is deemed unaffordable. Commonwealth Rental Assistance (CRA) was included as income for the purposes of this calculation.
How was appropriateness defined? Appropriateness was defined according to the number of bedrooms required for each household type. Specifically:
A room in a share house or a bedsit was considered only suitable for a single person and not for couples or those receiving the Disability Support Pensioners. Aged Pensioners were included.
A 1-2 bedroom property was considered suitable for a single person or couple and
a 2-3 bedroom property was considered suitable for parents with children, depending on the number of children in each family 1