The Quarterly Rental Review from CoreLogic has shown that Tasmanian renters continue to be put under more pressure from the housing affordability crisis, fuelled by the Liberal Government's inaction and complacency over nearly a decade.
Rents have increased 7.3 per cent over the year in Hobart, with the average rental now costing $551 a week, or nearly $29 000 a year.
That is $56 a week, or nearly $3 000 a year higher than Melbourne. Meanwhile Tasmanian wages continue to stagnate and lag behind the rest of the country by $10 000 a year on average.
The report also shows that the rental vacancy rate continues to fall compared to last year. State Government datashows that the situation is even worse in regional Tasmania.
As the report also notes, rising rents and the soaring cost of living more generally are leaving many Tasmanians with no choice but to move back into share houses or to look for housing further and further away from where they work or where their kids go to school.
The Government has failed to get the basics right on housing for nearly a decade. Jeremy Rockliff and Guy Barnett must act now to ease the rental crisis in Tasmania.
Ella Haddad MP
Shadow Housing Minister
