Australian rental affordability becomes worst at level never seen before: report

SYDNEY, April 30 (Xinhua) -- Housing affordability in Australia is the worst it has ever been, a new report has found.

The report, which was published on Wednesday by community services NGO Anglicare Australia, surveyed 51,238 rental listings across the country and found that 0.7 percent were affordable for a person earning a full-time minimum wage.

Of the rentals analyzed for the annual rental affordability snapshot, 165, or 0.3 percent, were affordable for a person on the age pension, which is currently set at a maximum of 1,149 Australian dollars (735.2 U.S. dollars) per fortnight for a single person.

For someone receiving the disability support pension, 0.1 percent of rentals were affordable and only three of the 51,238 rentals were affordable for a person on the JobSeeker Payment, Australia's unemployment benefit currently set at a maximum of 781.1 Australian dollars (499.7 U.S. dollars) per fortnight for a single person with no children.

Kasy Chambers, Anglicare Australia executive director, said that 74 of Australia's 150 electorates, the geographical divisions that comprise the lower house of the federal parliament, do not have a single affordable rental for a person on the minimum wage.

"Australia's housing crisis is the worst it has ever been," she said in a statement.

The report was released three days before Australia's general election on Saturday. Cost-of-living and housing have been dominant policy issues during the election campaign, with both the governing Labor Party and opposition Coalition making multi-billion-dollar pledges to boost housing supply.

However, experts have warned that both major parties' policies could further drive up housing prices. Enditem