This research charts the changes in the supply of affordable—and affordable and available—private rental housing for lower income households between 2011 and 2016. The research is the latest in a series of projects detailing changes in affordable rental housing supply every five years since 1996 using Census data.

The private rental sector (PRS) increased by 17 per cent between 2011 and 2016, more than twice the rate of household growth (7 per cent). In 2016, there were 2.02 million private renter households or 24 per cent of all Australian households, which is a two percentage point increase in the period 2011–2016.

There was an acute and growing shortage of affordable—and affordable/available—private dwellings for Q1 households nationally in 2016, particularly in metropolitan areas. 
The national shortage of affordable and available stock for Q1 households (in the bottom 20% of income distribution) in 2016 increased to 305,000, up from 271,000 in 2011, as many affordable dwellings are occupied by households on higher incomes (Q2–Q5).

More than a third of the 476,000 Q2 private renter households across Australia are living in unaffordable housing, up from just under one-quarter 10 years ago. The shortage of affordable and available dwellings for Q2 households is more acute in metropolitan regions, where 46 per cent of Q2 households (136,000 households) have affordability problems compared to 20 per cent (37,000 households) in non-metropolitan regions.
The research suggests that at least 200,000 additional new social housing units, with appropriate management models for allocation to households and to retain affordable rents, are needed.