In Brisbane, every fifth application received by an agency comes from groups — ABC News Australia

In Australia, multigenerational families and groups of friends are increasingly joining forces to rent housing amid limited supply and rising rental rates. In Brisbane, such applicants account for about every fifth application received by one real estate agency, ABC News Australia reports.

Real estate agent Avi Khan said prospective tenants are applying for housing as several couples, together with parents, or with friends. According to him, before the federal budget in May, a single house would typically receive about 10 applications, whereas now the number is 15–20.

Rent has more than doubled

Perth resident Grady Tumat has lived with his brother and another housemate since 2019. He said that when they moved in, the rent was 315 Australian dollars per week, and after the latest increase it reached 760 dollars. This represents a 141% increase over seven years.

Tumat noted that shared living makes it possible to stretch the budget, but three people have to adapt to a small space. According to him, this lifestyle was not what they had imagined for themselves, but it is an affordable option for them.

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Housing shortage for tenants

According to the Domain platform, Australia’s nationwide rental vacancy rate in the September quarter was 1% — only one in 100 properties was available for rent. In state capitals outside Sydney and Melbourne, the shortage of supply was even more acute.

Lyndall Bryant, a senior lecturer in property economics at Queensland University of Technology, said that government policy attention is primarily focused on homebuyers. She also said that changes to negative gearing rules and capital gains tax introduced in the federal budget weakened investment in residential property and put tenants in a more difficult position.

The Australian federal government increased payments under the Commonwealth Rental Assistance program in 2023 and 2024, and also agreed with state and territory leaders to move towards more consistent rules protecting tenants’ rights. Trade unions and housing advocacy groups, for their part, called for rent caps and multi-year tenancy agreements.