With rising rents and cost-of-living pressures mounting, more than three in four home owners want greater government intervention in the housing market, including rent caps.
A recent survey commissioned by The Australia Institute found that most Australians wanted additional government intervention as a measure to address rising rents nationwide.
The survey found that 61 per cent of respondents felt the government should do more to help renters.
The data found that 78 per cent, or almost four in five Australians, supported some government regulation of rent increases, with 55 per cent saying rents should rise only in line with inflation.
Similarly, 23 per cent of respondents felt a temporary freeze on rent rises was needed to address the growing cost-of-living crisis.
The sentiment was largely consistent regardless of ownership status, with 57 per cent of outright homeowners and 58 per cent of mortgagors agreeing that rents should only rise in line with inflation.
Conversely, 14 per cent of total respondents felt there should be no limit on rent rises, while eight per cent were unsure.
Similarly, just 8 per cent of Australians said the government should do less, with a quarter saying no adjustment to support was needed.
At the state level, Western Australia felt the greatest need for government intervention, with 84 per cent of respondents saying rents should follow inflation or be temporarily frozen.
In contrast, respondents in South Australia felt the least need for government involvement, with 16 per cent supporting no cap on rent rises and the largest share of unsure responses at 11 per cent.
The Australia Institute deputy research director Jack Thrower said that while the consensus has long been that housing was best served without government intervention, sentiment had shifted.
“For decades Australia has been told that housing is best provided by the private market and governments should get out of the way,” Thrower said.
“This polling shows that voters overwhelmingly back bold government interventions, directly regulating rents and spending more to build public housing.”
Beyond supporting rent caps, three in four respondents said the government should spend more on public housing rather than rely on the private market, while only 16 per cent disagreed.
The figure for renters was substantially higher than the average, with 83 per cent of those surveyed agreeing that the government should play a larger role in providing additional public housing
Thrower said the findings showed a significant portion of Australians felt the government needed to do more to address cost-of-living pressures across the country.
“Governments have given away tens of billions in tax incentives for private developers, let public housing wither away and allowed the housing crisis to get worse and worse.”
“This year the Albanese government made bold changes to overhaul broken tax settings to help people trying to enter the housing market. But after years of surging rents, renters continue to suffer.”
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