Renting in Adelaide is just as unaffordable as Sydney with even the outskirts of the city now out of reach to average earners.
That is the finding of the 11th annual National Shelter-SGS Economics and Planning Rental Affordability Index.
The Index, which compares rents with incomes, found Adelaide’s affordability stabilised at a record low over the past 12 months after a rapid decline in the five years previous to that.
It found the SA capital city’s median rent of $560 takes up 30% of the median household income — the same level as in Sydney.
That means even average earners are in rental stress.
Rental affordability is also poor in regional towns surrounding Adelaide, where rents are now unaffordable for the average householder.
Low-income households (people on JobSeeker, pensioners and single parents working part time) face ‘severely’ to ‘critically’ unaffordable rents, it says.
“The stabilisation of rental affordability after years of decline is encouraging but there is a long way to go before South Australia is affordable,” said Dr Alice Clark, the CEO of Shelter SA.
“This situation remains incredibly challenging for low income households and now also an increasing number of moderate and higher income renters.
“People who rented all their lives are being forced to sleep in cars or tents because they can no longer afford a roof over their heads,” she says.
“The government must act further, including by expanding social and affordable housing and rolling out more modular housing so those on low wages can afford a home.”
SGS Economics & Planning Principal Ellen Witte said: “Acceptable rents in Adelaide are now extremely scarce, leaving many rental households with no option but to manage unaffordable rents.
“The outskirts of Adelaide — including McLaren Vale, Salisbury and Gawler — offered ‘acceptable’ rents in 2019 but are now ‘moderately unaffordable’.
“The CBD appears more affordable on paper but that outcome is driven by a high concentration of studio and one-bedroom stock, which does not meet the needs of many households,” Witte says.
The report found a full-time hospitality worker would have to pay 31% of their income for a one-bedroom apartment in Adelaide (above the threshold for rental stress).
The city is also judged ‘moderately unaffordable’ for a couple on minimum wage.
RENT-TO BUY HOMES IN ADELAIDE
Meanwhile, the SA Government says its first southern Adelaide rent-to-buy homes will be ready by mid-2026 with 16 two-bedroom and 16 three-bedrooms homes.
The homes are located in Seaforth and follows other tenants moving into such homes in Salisbury East and Elizabeth East.
Homes are close to Seaford train station and there are 43 car parks.
The program offers eligible long-term renters a pathway to home ownership by moving in as a renter, paying 75% of market rent, then buying the homes after two years at a fixed price.
If the home is not bought, at the end of the rental period, the tenants will have to leave and the property sold.
OTHER CITIES
Hobart’s affordability falling
