The State of Renting in Australia 2026: Rising Rents, New Rights, and What Needs to Change

The ABS reports that approximately 30% of Australian households rent — around 3.1 million households, or roughly 7 million people. That number has grown steadily as house prices have made ownership inaccessible for more of the population.

Rent prices have increased dramatically since 2021. Sydney and Melbourne still command the highest rents nationally, but Perth, Brisbane, and Adelaide have seen the steepest recent increases. Perth in particular has experienced rent growth of over 60% since 2020, driven by population growth and a persistent shortage of rental housing stock.

Vacancy rates in major cities have remained below 2% — economists generally consider a 3% vacancy rate a balanced market. Below 2% is a landlord's market in which competition for well-priced properties is intense and tenants have very limited negotiating power.

The period from 2024 to 2025 saw the most significant wave of tenancy law reform in decades. The headline change — the abolition of no-grounds evictions in NSW, VIC, QLD, SA, and the ACT — is real and meaningful. Renters in those states now have significantly greater security of tenure than they did two years ago.

Other genuine improvements include: QLD's cap on break lease costs, VIC's mandatory RDRV process (which has resolved thousands of disputes faster and cheaper than VCAT could), and QLD's increase in entry notice requirements.

However, WA and TAS have not enacted equivalent reforms. Renters in those states remain exposed to no-grounds evictions — a legislative gap that particularly affects the 31% of Western Australians who rent.

Legislative reform has improved security of tenure but has not addressed affordability. Rent prices are not capped in any Australian state — landlords can still increase rent to any amount with appropriate notice, and tenants' only recourse is to challenge an 'excessive' increase at tribunal, which most do not do.

The housing supply crisis is structural. The federal government's National Housing Accord has set ambitious targets for new dwellings, but construction has not kept pace with migration-driven population growth. The gap between supply and demand in major cities is likely to keep rental prices elevated through the decade.

International students, recent migrants, and low-income renters remain the most vulnerable — with fewer protections, greater scam exposure, and the least ability to push back against unlawful practices.

Despite the structural pressures, individual renters have more tools than they often realise:

• Know your state's rules — the 2024–2025 reforms have given you stronger rights than existed two years ago. Use them.
• Document everything — the single highest-leverage action for any renter is creating a paper trail from day one
• Search a property before you apply — use RenterSay to see what previous tenants experienced
• Challenge illegitimate rent increases — most renters do not apply to tribunal even when they have strong grounds
• Understand break lease costs before you sign — many renters overpay because they do not know the statutory formula
• File a review after your tenancy — sharing your experience helps the seven million renters who come after you

We built RenterSay because no service existed to give Australian renters the information advantage that landlords and agents have always had. The goal is simple: before you rent anywhere, you should be able to see what previous tenants experienced there.

As the platform grows, the collective record of tenant experiences will become a genuinely useful signal for the seven million Australians making rental decisions right now. The state of renting in Australia in 2026 is difficult — but better-informed renters make better decisions, and that is something we can actually change.