Third brief in the Homes for Australia series
The Australian Government's 2026 national housing and homelessness plan, Homes for Australia, is framed around six priorities.
The third is 'making renting fairer and more affordable so renters can live in security and plan for the future'.
AHURI's research library offers a substantial body of evidence and policy options directly relevant to achieving this goal.
Here are some of the learnings from the library.
Homeownership rates are falling and renting is increasingly becoming a destination rather than a stepping stone. About one-third of Australian households now rent, and by 2041, AHURI projections suggest almost half of current younger households will not have achieved ownership by the age of 54, and will spend most of their working and family life in private rental.
The realities are felt on the ground. A 2024 AHURI study found three-fifths of Australian renters expect they will never own a home.
The trajectory underscores the need for fairer, more affordable renting. Achieving this requires diagnosing the drivers of unfairness and unaffordability – then designing solutions equal to addressing them.
Tackling discrimination
In 2021, AHURI studied discrimination in private rental housing. The University of Sydney-led research found socio-economic status, income, age, race, gender, disability, and even having kids or pets could contribute to unfair discrimination in the private rental market. The study found institutional mechanisms, such as strata rules banning pets or children, enable discrimination. It recommended anti-discrimination regulation across jurisdictions and the removal of discriminatory clauses from rental agreements.
Separate AHURI research has examined the housing disadvantage specific groups face, including First Nations peoples and people with disability, and offered bespoke policy recommendations to improve outcomes for each group.
Reducing risks from informal rental agreements
AHURI’s 2021 report also found the rise of informal tenancies and share-housing has left renters without legally binding leases facing unregulated discrimination and no tenure security. The report recommended extending residential tenancies Acts to cover informal tenants, among other measures.
Addressing renter-landlord power imbalances
The same research recommended minimum standards for rental agreements, dwelling quality, and agent professionalisation to help address unfairness created by a significant landlord-tenant power imbalance. However, the researchers determined power imbalances could not be fixed without easing rental pressure. This could be achieved by increasing social housing and low-cost rental supply and reducing investment property incentives that drive private housing accumulation. Measures to achieve these outcomes are explored in-depth elsewhere in this series.
Reducing landlord and rental churn
A 2025 AHURI study into what motivates the 9% of Australians who were landlords found half of all rental properties were held for 2 years or less. Researchers found investment education programs may help more landlords retain their property, resulting in more long-term stable rental housing. Policies that cut landlords' costs were cautioned against because such measures were unlikely to improve affordability for renters. Real progress needs diversified rental supply, which could come through greater government and institutional investment in social and affordable housing.
Countering risks from real estate technology
AHURI’s 2021 study warned rapid growth in digital real estate technologies (known as PropTech), such as apps, rental application platforms and ‘flatmate-finding’ technologies, risk creating and entrenching housing inequalities. A follow-up 2026 AHURI study found PropTech's role in mediating housing access was expanding, particularly through AI-driven rental application ranking and tenant "blacklist" databases.
The use of PropTech products to collect tenant data also raises concerns about data security, privacy and discrimination for renters – risks not faced by homeowners.
Researchers recommended a raft of measures to address these issues, including periodic reviews of rental data protection, full implementation of National Cabinet's Better Deal for Renters, and extending the Privacy Act to cover small businesses – closing an exemption that shields many real estate agencies and PropTech providers.
Compensating for missed wealth-building opportunities
A 2024 AHURI study explored how to plan for a two-tier housing market of owners and renters. It found homeowners received tax concessions and opportunities to accumulate wealth that were unavailable to renters. These included no capital gains tax on the sale of the primary residence (which becomes a form of wealth accumulation) and no tax on the imputed rental income of owner-occupied housing. Conversely, renters were required to pay rent after income tax. To create a fairer housing and tax system, long-term renters could be compensated in other ways, such as through boosted superannuation or other financial investments.
Older renters face particular risks in a two-tier housing market, and an AHURI Inquiry into precariously housed older Australians explored the issue further.
Rethinking a retirement system premised on home ownership
Home ownership has long underpinned Australia’s retirement system. Government policy, including how the Age Pension is set, assumes most retirees own their home. However, falling housing affordability means the number of older renters is increasing, placing more people at risk of housing insecurity and, potentially, homelessness. This cohort increasingly relies on private rentals, and by 2031 an estimated 440,000 older households will be unable to find or afford suitable housing. Increasing social housing supply was again flagged as a solution.
AHURI’s Inquiry found the Age Pension system could be adjusted to treat homeowners and non-homeowners more fairly by changing the asset limits, depending on whether someone owns a home or not. Build-to-rent, shared equity, and rent-to-buy schemes could expand the secure housing options available to older Australians.
Better tailoring rent assistance
Commonwealth Rent Assistance (CRA) is Australia's biggest housing support program, costing $5.5 billion in 2023-24. An AHURI investigation led by Curtin University found tenure and demographic shifts will drive a 60% surge in CRA eligibility among people aged 55+, from 414,000 in 2016 to 664,000 by 2031, suggesting a re-examination of policy architecture is needed. A 2025 AHURI study on CRA's impact on low-income renting families meanwhile found payments are set too low and disadvantage smaller families. Researchers found increasing CRA would boost recipients' children's chances of attending university, and of avoiding homelessness later in life.
AHURI research consistently points to one key fix for unfairness and unaffordability in private rental: more social and affordable housing supply. The next Brief in this series tackles exactly that, as it addresses the Homes for Australia priority of ‘growing the social and affordable housing sector so more Australians have a stable place to call home’.
For in-depth study findings, policy recommendations, and other insights into how Australia can build more homes, follow the research hyperlinks within this Brief, or visit AHURI.edu.au.
