190 PEOPLE APPLY PER RENTAL ROOM
FLATMATES are forking out record high prices of up to $700 a week for a single room as the Gold Coast’s rental crisis spills over into share house accommodation.
Almost 200 people are competing for each available room in the Coast’s most sought-after suburb of Miami, new data from Flatmates.com.au shows.
The data shows the number of people applying per rental has soared along with demand for affordable accommodation, with a ratio of 15 people for each share house room across the Gold Coast.
Those ratios blew out to a whopping 190 people per room in Miami, while there were 60 per room in Burleigh Heads, Surfers Paradise, and Labrador.
Flatmates’ top share house price across Queensland was $700 for a single room with an ensuite, living with up to four other people in a four-bedroom house in Miami.
But even that is small change compared to another listing for a one-bedroom flat in nearby Surfers Paradise, where you’ll pay a whopping $3000 per week plus $7000 bond for the flexibility of a place to live, without signing a long-term lease.
By comparison, the most expensive permanent rental property in the Glitter Strip suburb advertised on realestate.com.au was a three-bedroom unit priced at $2800 per week, with a six-month lease.
Flatmates.com.au community manager Claudia Conley said demand for share houses had reached breaking point as owner-occupiers snapped up many former rental properties during the Covid boom.
“With the rising cost of living, rental price increases, limited rental stock and population growth, share accommodation is increasingly becoming a long-term and legitimate way to live,” Ms Conley said.
She said room prices would continue to soar while the imbalance of supply and demand persisted, as reflected in Queensland’s broader housing shortage and record tight vacancy rates.
“Share accommodation is typically more affordable than renting a property on your own,” she said.
“People may be choosing to enter share accommodation to keep costs low or due to strong competition in the rental market, they can no longer afford to live on their own.”
Tenants Queensland CEO Penny Carr said the price hikes hit those who could least afford it hardest, with share accommodation traditionally sought by people without the savings or stability to access longer term rental properties.
“People on low incomes are being pushed into marginal tenures such as in a caravan park or sometimes a share house when that is not necessarily their choice,” Ms Carr said. “We’re hearing from people calling our services every day who are turning up and there are dozens of people at an inspection.
“They are taking what they can get, and while share houses are no longer necessarily affordable, they are more affordable than taking on a tenancy where you also have the associated start-up costs including the bond for the whole house,” she said.
Proptrack Rental Report September 2022 shows rents in regional Queensland surged 12.9 per cent over the quarter.
“The solution to the current tight rental market is either more rental supply or less rental demand, or a combination of both,” Proptrack director of economic research Cameron Kusher said.
“While there is some supply coming via build-to-rent, any supply additions are expected to be well and truly outweighed by the increase in demand from the reopening of international borders and the ongoing decline in purchasing by first home buyers.”