Report finds almost half of all renters think they’ll never own a home

ABC NEWS (Australia)

As owning a home grows increasingly out of reach more Australians are renting for longer and even for life. A new report has found tenants across the country are willing to pay more to secure longer leases. But experts say forever renters will face more financial pressure in retirement.

Transcript

00:00Folding away clothes has become a ritual of Chris Little's life and not just because of

00:08his two young daughters.

00:09This is the fifth house I've lived in in this area in the last ten years.

00:13The 49-year-old rents in Melbourne's south east and has never been able to afford to

00:18buy a home.

00:19We just never got out of renting, never able to save enough, have enough deposit and get

00:23to that stage.

00:24More and more Australians are finding themselves stuck in a similar cycle.

00:29Census data shows across the country the proportion of renters has grown over the past

00:34decade in every age group except those aged 80 and over.

00:39Australia really is in this kind of tip over, tipping point of transition from a homeowning

00:46nation to a nation where renting needs to be a lifetime tenure.

00:52Researchers from the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute asked almost 1,000

00:57renters what protections they were willing to pay for.

01:01They found the average tenant will fork out $127 extra each month for their property to

01:07be maintained above minimum standards, $72 for an indefinite lease and $77 to ensure

01:15rent prices cannot increase by more than 5% a year.

01:20As the number of lifelong renters grows, experts warn the trend could leave many without the

01:24security of home ownership and retirement, putting new pressures on Australia's retirement

01:30system.

01:31Part of that might also be increasing superannuation or welfare payments later in life to help

01:38those that don't manage outright home ownership by the time they retire.

01:42Retirement is a milestone Chris isn't too far from reaching and he's weighing up, pulling

01:47money from his super to buy a property.

01:49So I'd have a lot less to retire on, but on the other hand I'd have somewhere to live.

01:54Hoping one day he'll finally unpack for good.

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