Rental prices are rocketing in Perth as home vacancy rates plummet amid chronic housing supply shortages and unprecedented demand for homelessness services.

September 19, 2023

Perth tenants are struggling amid a housing crisis as rental prices rise faster than in any other capital city and the vacancy rate plummets.

Advertised rents rose 19 per cent in the past year and four per cent in the 12 weeks to September 12, according to Shelter WA.

Perth also has the tightest vacancy rate of the capital cities at 0.4 per cent, and regional Western Australia experienced some of the largest rent rises in the nation.

Shelter WA chief executive Kath Snell said tenants were being “smashed by some of the biggest rent rises in the country”.

“From Bunbury to Broome and beyond, the housing crisis is hitting Western Australians hard,” she said on Tuesday.

Two WA regions are among Australia’s top 10 areas for rent rises in the past year – the Goldfields recorded a 30.8 per cent increase, while rents in the Mid-West and Wheatbelt rose by 24.4 per cent.

Ms Snell said the rocketing rents, low vacancy rates and an unprecedented demand for homelessness services were caused by a chronic shortage of affordable housing supply.

In the past three months, rents in Sydney and Melbourne climbed by 0.9 and 2.8 per cent respectively, while in Brisbane they increased by 2.3 per cent.

Rents in Adelaide and Darwin rose by 1.2 and 1.1 per cent, while in Canberra and Hobart the average  dropped by 2.4 and 2.8 per cent.

Urban Development Institute of Australia chief executive Tanya Steinbeck said Western Australia needs 20,000 more homes to meet expected housing demand over the next three years.

“State and federal governments play a critical role in supporting and encouraging key partnerships to deliver much-needed housing supply,” she said.

Community housing organisations, state and federal government representatives and industry leaders met on Tuesday to discuss ways to boost WA’s housing supply.

The symposium is exploring ways the community housing sector can work with industry and government to build more social and affordable homes.

“What we’ve seen in other states is a bigger movement for partnerships with community housing organisations,” Ms Snell said.

“We need to make sure we get our fair share of federal government funding so we don’t fall behind.”

In a speech to the meeting, WA Housing Minister John Carey called for community housing providers to apply for grant funding, land leases and land contributions to boost social housing in the state.

He also said the government was working to simplify the development application process to make it easier for community housing providers to deliver social and affordable housing projects.

It is part of the Cook government’s $2.6 billion investment in social housing and homelessness measures, which has so far resulted in more than 1500 social homes, with a further 1000 under contract or construction.

Ms Snell welcomed the proposed changes, which mean applications can be submitted to the government at any time, instead of waiting for specific grant rounds.

She said it would help overcome current project delays and oversubscription in grants rounds.

The average weekly rent asking price was $644 in Perth and Canberra, $597 in Melbourne, $793 in Sydney, $626 in Brisbane, $532 in Adelaide, $489 in Hobart and $576 in Darwin.