Aussie renters ‘pay house deposit every 5yrs’

Renters are paying on average a house deposit every five years in rent, according to fresh data.

The research from the Parliamentary Library, commissioned by the Greens, compiled Australian Bureau of Statistics data and estimated the average renter had paid $106,550 per household over the period.

Over 10 years, the data indicated a household had paid $209,908 in rent.

But the library warned the data relied on a number of very broad assumptions, including an average rent of $401 per week paid.

“They do not reflect any particular individual circumstances,” it said.

A third of Australia’s roughly 10 million households are renters, a third own their home outright and a third have a mortgage.

Supercharged by an influx in migration and supply shortage, rental prices have soared 7.9 per cent annually – the largest since the global financial crisis.

Greens housing spokesman Max Chandler-Mather said for many, the cost of rent made it “impossible” to save for a deposit.

“Banks won’t give you a mortgage without a deposit, even though as this data shows, renters are already paying almost a housing deposit worth of rent every five years,” he said.

“In effect, renters end up paying off someone else’s mortgage while often copping massive rent increases that make it impossible to save for a house themselves.”

In September, the minor party agreed to pass the government’s Housing Australia Future Fund in return for a further $1bn spend on public and community housing.

But it failed to secure its ultimate ask – a cap or freeze on rents.

At the time, the Greens indicated they would turn their focus to Labor’s “help to buy” shared equity scheme in the fight to secure a cap or a freeze, meanwhile targeting renters across several Labor-held Melbourne and Sydney seats.

The scheme, which would help 10,000 prospective buyers a year by taking an equity stake in their homes, would pave the way for smaller deposits.

The average house deposit in Australia in 2023 is $159,000, according to SQM Research.

Anthony Albanese announced at Labor’s national conference in August that the scheme would be up and running in 2024.

The Prime Minister has repeatedly ruled out a rent freeze or a cap as it is outside the federal government’s jurisdiction.

Mr Chandler-Mather said the freeze would give renters a “chance to catch a breath and maybe start to save a little money for themselves”.