Public anxiety about housing affordability is at an all-time high.
Poll after poll reveals that the cost of housing is one of the most pressing challenges confronting the Australian community.
Hundreds of thousands of households are in a housing stress - when they pay more than thirty per cent of their gross income on their housing cost, whether theyre renting or owning.
Rachel Eason who lives in Canberra with her children aged 11 and 14 says not much of her income is left over after rent on their three-bedroom house as the rent is around 45 per cent of her income.
45 per cent of income for rent is much more than what housing experts deem to be affordable.
However, Settlement Services International (SSI) executive manager of social housing, Patrick Yeung says it is the experience of many people right across Australia.
The severity of the problem is outlined in the eighth Anglicare rental-affordability snapshot, based on a study of more than 67,000 properties in the first weekend of April.
The charity's chief executive, Kasey Chambers, expresses deep concern., saying "What we found was dire. If you're on a low income, if you're on a government benefit, if you're on minimum wage in Australia, you will find it very hard to find an affordable dwelling in the private rental market."
State and federal governments are promising action to make housing more affordable but Treasurer Scott Morrison warns that there is no silver bullet to improve affordability in the short term.
In his budget Treasurer Scott Morrison announced that the government will boost the supply of housing by working with state and territory governments to set housing supply targets and facilitate planning and zoning reform.
This will be achieved by a new National Housing and Homelessness Agreement, with funding to help people who are homeless and those in need of crisis accommodation.
For Tracy Howe, CEO of NSW Council of Social Service this is good news in the long run but she says there is no immediate relief for people at the margins of our society.
The Government is establishing a $1 billion National Housing Infrastructure Facility (NHIF) that will finance the critical infrastructure needed to speed up the supply of new housing.
Ned Cutcher who works for the Tenants Union says thats good for developers and landlords but not for those who require affordable accommodation now.
And in a further move, surplus Commonwealth land will be made available for housing construction together with opportunities for Australias small community housing sector to access funds at cheaper rates.
Dr Louise Crabtree is a senior fellow researcher at the Institute of Culture and Society at Western Sydney University.
Despite Dr Crabtrees cautious praise for some of the measures in the budget to increase the supply of housing, she says some major distortions of the housing market were left untouched.
