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Around 1.7 million Australian renter households could be putting up with unsuitable or unsafe properties just to put a roof over their heads, according to new analysis.
A new survey from Finder revealed three in five – or 59 per cent – had excused an issue with a property for fear of missing out on a place to live.
Based on the proportion of Australians who do rent, the comparison site said that would be the equivalent of approximately 1.7 million renting households.
“Settling for less” comes as rent prices have climbed 11.5 per cent across Australia’s capital cities, on average. That figure is even higher in the cities of Perth and Sydney, where the average rental price has climbed by 13.4 per cent and 12.9 per cent respectively, according to CoreLogic.
Finder shared that one in five tenants – or 21 per cent – looked past the inadequate size of the property in order to find a place to live, while one in seven (14 per cent) said they had tolerated a lack of amenities, including air conditioning or a laundry.
Of more concern is the fact that 10 per cent of renters – one in 10 – accepted a mould issue in their pursual of a property.
Finder said that’s the equivalent of 290,000 households accepting mould problems across the country.
Ten per cent of renters also said they compromised, agreeing to rentals being located far from work or family, while 8 per cent of those surveyed said they accepted living in a neighbourhood with a higher crime rate.
The same proportion of people (8 per cent) also settled for living in a property with poor internet and phone reception, and compromised on poor access to public transport to find a place to call home.
A further 3 per cent of renters said they had to share a room to find somewhere to live.
Richard Whitten is a home loans expert of Finder, and believes the number of renters who are living in “below par” conditions is a frightening prospect.
“Tenants are having to lower their standards and accept some really unpleasant living situations.”
Continuing, he highlighted that “thousands are stuck in rentals which would be considered hazardous purely because there aren’t enough properties available to rent in their area”.
Despite the prevalence of problems, Finder’s research also found that 9 per cent of tenants refrained from asking for repairs to be carried out in their property when they noticed damage that had not been included on the entry condition report.
According to Mr Whitten, while the numbers are “alarming”, he did acknowledge that the rental crisis is showing early positive signs of easing.
“The situation might be improving for tenants as vacancy rates start to stabilise or even rise in some areas of the country.”
“But listings are still well below pre-pandemic levels,” he concluded.
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