More income going to rent in Douglas households

RENTS RISE

David Gardiner

Journalist

Email David
Last updated:
Nearly half of household income now goes to house rental costs in Port Douglas. Picture: Submitted

New research shows Port Douglas not only has one of the lowest rates of available rental accommodation, but also one of the highest rent costs compared to incomes.

Port Douglas and areas within the same post code ranked 18th in a top 25 national list of suburbs or areas that have weekly rents excessively high compared to incomes – at 47 per cent – according to the latest quarterly Suburbtrends Rental Crisis Report.

Many renters still like to rely on the ‘30 per cent rule’, which means a maximum of 30 per cent of a tenant’s or tenants’ income goes to rent.

But 47 per cent is now regarded as “excessively high”.

The report also identifies the ‘top 25’ areas where tenants desperately need more rental accommodation to come onto the market, because they:

  • Have incredibly low vacancy rates
  • Have household incomes below the state average
  • Have weekly rents that are excessively high compared to incomes
  • Have a very low building approvals pipeline, indicating that the problem will not be fixed anytime soon.

The *vacancy rate in the Port Douglas area also remains low, at just 0.8 per cent:

Suburbtrends Report

Port Douglas House Vacancy Rate

Jan 2023: 0.8% Jan 2022: 2.2% Change over 12 months: down 1.4%

Median weekly rent

Jan 2023: $650 Jan 2022: $570 Change over 12 months: up 14%

Average weekly household income: $1,370

Rent as share of household income: 47%

The next nearest comparable area in Queensland on the list is Eli Waters in Hervey Bay, which rates 10th on the list – where household income towards rent is 50 per cent and median rent is $520, up 24 per cent over 12 months.

Suburbtrends founder Kent Lardner said the rental crisis is one of the biggest issues in Australia.

“The Suburbtrends Rental Crisis Report sheds light on the suburbs hardest hit by the shortage of rental properties,” Mr Lardner said.

"Well-to-do renters in upscale suburbs benefit from a wider range of housing options, particularly given their ability to work remotely as many belong to the knowledge worker demographic," he said.

“However, the situation is particularly dire for renters with low household incomes residing in socio-economically challenged communities, who face limited choices and significant difficulties in securing appropriate housing.

“While we acknowledge that finding a solution to this crisis is complex, we call on the Australian federal government to collaborate with state and territory governments to increase the supply of rental properties and alleviate this pressing issue."

*What is the 'vacancy rate'? The vacancy rate is the share of untenanted rental properties in an area. So if, for example, there were 100 rental properties in an area and two were untenanted (i.e. advertised continuously for 21 days or more), the vacancy rate would be 2%.

Thank you!

Newsport thanks its advertising partners for their support in the delivery of daily community news to the Douglas Shire. Public interest journalism is a fundamental part of every community.

Got a news tip? Let us know! Send your news tips or submit a letter to the editor here.

* Comments are the opinions of readers and do not represent the views of Newsport, its staff or affiliates. Reader comments on Newsport are moderated before publication to promote valuable, civil, and healthy community debate. Visit our comment guidelines if your comment has not been approved for publication.