The great Australian dream is now the great Australian dread - the struggle to find a rental you can afford

Anglicare Sydney

Note: Rob Stokes available for interviews

Thursday 30 April 2026

Only one in 70 rental properties affordable for minimum wage earners across all of Sydney and the Illawarra

Talk of a problematic housing market isn’t new in NSW, but the harsh reality is laid bare in Anglicare Sydney’s 2026 Rental Affordability Snapshot.

The Snapshot, now in its 16th year, revealed its most devastating results yet, showing that full time work is not enough for many families or individuals to find an affordable place to live.

Key findings

Over the weekend of 14-15 March, some 12,155 private rentals were advertised for rent in Greater Sydney and the Illawarra.

For those earning the minimum wage, only 3 listings were affordable and appropriate for a single parent with 2 children, and only 7 listings were affordable and appropriate for a single person with no children.
Across all categories of those earning the minimum wage, 1.51%, or 1 in 70, rental listings across were affordable.
In five years, there has been a 86 per cent decrease in affordable rentals - in 2021 a person on the minimum wage would have over 1,300 rental properties they could afford on the private market. In 2026, that number is just 184.
For households who rely on income support including the Parenting Payment, Jobseeker, Disability Support Pension or Youth Allowance, not a single rental was found to be affordable.
The Age Pension is the only income support that allowed individuals to access an affordable and appropriate rental, however across there were only 8 properties found to be affordable for a couple, and for a single person, only 2 properties.

Rob Stokes, Group Executive of Housing at Anglicare said that seeing these numbers in black and white shows how much the reality of living in NSW has changed.

“The great Australian dream used to be having a house to call your own, near family and friends, and close to work. Now people are lucky to find a rental that doesn’t immediately tip them into financial distress,” Mr Stokes said.

“If you’re a minimum wage earner, this means that just 1 in every 70 rentals across Sydney and Illawarra are affordable. Imagine scrolling past 70 listings to finally find one you can afford, and when you turn up there’s an enormous line just to get a viewing.

“That’s not the great Australian dream, it’s a nightmare and it is only getting worse,” Mr Stokes said.

For those on income support, the outlook was even worse. Anglicare’s research revealed that across Greater Sydney and the Illawarra, ten areas out of 18 did not have a single affordable rental available for those on income support.

Minimum wage households fared only marginally better. Even in areas with the ‘highest concentration’ of affordable rentals, such as Blacktown, the South West, the Outer West and Blue Mountains, just 3–5% of advertised properties were affordable, highlighting how limited the options remain even in Sydney’s most accessible rental markets.

The supply-demand imbalance across the NSW market remains high, with the number of available rentals still far below pre-Covid levels, emphasising the continued need to drive new and affordable stock onto the market.

“Sydney is the most expensive rental market in the country and Anglicare is calling on the government to use this Budget cycle to make a meaningful difference to protect what is a human right, to have a safe and secure place to live,” Mr Stokes said.

“Anglicare has been studying Rental Affordability for nearly two decades and all we have seen is the issue escalate and spread.

“The time has come for us to stop circular debates about supply vs demand and instead make policy changes to ensure every Australian has the opportunity to have housing security, rather than be filled with dread about how they will afford to keep a roof over their head, if they can find one at all.”

Anglicare Sydney is calling for meaningful reform that ensures supply is delivered and individuals have the capacity to pay by:

Protecting and growing the supply of social and affordable housing, by reforming tax incentives, delivering an additional 10,000 new social dwellings annually, prioritising Government land for social and affordable housing, introducing mandatory inclusionary zoning and strengthening partnerships with Community Housing Providers.

Increase financial assistance and other supports for private renters, by increasing JobSeeker and Youth Allowance, increasing and re-indexing Commonwealth Rent Assistance, investing in wraparound supports and strengthening renters’ rights.

Prioritise vulnerable groups in our housing system, by expanding funding for crisis and transitional accommodation, improving supports for homelessness, domestic and family violence victim-survivors, and older Australians at risk of homelessness, and enabling “Meanwhile Use” of vacant or under-utilised properties for transitional housing.

The full Rental Affordability Snapshot 2026 can be viewed online here.

About us:

Anglicare Sydney is a Christian non-for-profit providing care to older people and community services throughout Sydney, the Blue Mountains, Illawarra, Southern Highlands, New England North West, Central West and Norfolk Island.

Anglicare has been serving those in need for more than 160 years, employing more than 5,000 staff and serving alongside 1,300 volunteers.

Anglicare provides a diverse range of services including providing care through residential aged care homes, at home care services, retirement living communities, affordable homes for people over 55, community services for children, families and those experiencing social isolation, disaster recovery in times of crisis and helping effecting change through research and advocacy.

Contact details:

Isabelle Colla 0432 970 548 or [email protected]