ABC 7.30, Monday 19 October: extended families and friends put the same listing on the table. It is not a hobby. Avi Khan, a Brisbane agent, says one in five applications to his agency now come from groups like that. Couples together. Mums and dads on the form. “The household unit is changing.” That is his mouth. It is not a census.

In Perth, Grady Toomath lives with his brother and a housemate. Since 2019. Then, A$315 a week. After the latest rise, A$760. Up 141 per cent in seven years. “It’s not entirely the lifestyle any of us wanted. It’s the lifestyle we can afford.” Three men, a small space. Respect, turns, no illusions.

Khan ties the surge in applications to May’s federal budget: changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax. Before, he says, about ten applications on a house. Now, 15–20. Investors are not being replaced. 7.30 asked the federal housing minister for comment. In the piece, there is no reply. We do not invent one.

Lyndall Bryant, Queensland University of Technology: the talk is about the 5 per cent deposit and who buys. For renters, she says, the solutions are missing. Social and community housing: 3–5 per cent of stock. In round numbers, a quarter of people who need a home rent privately. Domain, September quarter, in ABC: national vacancy, 1 per cent. 31 per cent of Australians rent. Capitals outside Sydney and Melbourne, tighter.

SQM Research, September, via Louis Christopher: 1.4 per cent nationwide, 42,290 vacant dwellings. A different method from Domain. It is not a contradiction to write down. Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Darwin, Hobart: below 1 per cent. Little air there. Sydney and Melbourne pull the average up. Perth, where Toomath speaks from, remains among the tight markets.

The government raised Commonwealth Rental Assistance in 2023 and 2024. The states talk about more aligned rental rights. Unions and housing groups want caps and multi-year leases. That is not law. Bryant: current policy discourages residential investors. It frees stock for first-home buyers. Renters, she says, still pay more.

Keegan Du Preez, 24, a Sydney accountant: nine investment properties and, at the same time, a renter. It is not a typical portrait. He says he locks rent for 24 months so a tenant can budget. Rates, repairs, expensive trades. “We’re not an endless pit of money.” That is a landlord’s voice. It is not the market’s verdict. The photograph: Wittenoom Apartments, West Perth, March 2022. Not Toomath’s house.

Image: Calistemon, Wittenoom Apartments, West Perth, 27 March 2022, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. Not Grady Toomath’s house.

Sources consulted: Renters forming larger and multi-family households to cover rising costs — ABC News; National Vacancy Rate Rises to 1.4% | SQM Research — Property Update.