Cade Lucas
Not one property in Hobsons Bay or Maribyrnong is affordable for a household on welfare,maccording to Anglicare Victoria’s 2025 Rental Affordability Snapshot (RAS).
The RAS is an annual survey of available rental properties, which measures their affordability for people living on minimum wage or or income support payments.
To be considered affordable, properties must be priced at less than 30 per cent of a household’s income and have enough bedrooms to avoid overcrowding.
Anglicare Victoria’s west regional director Claire Nyblom said while affordable housing options for people on income support in the inner west had been negligible for years, it had never been this bad.
“In 2025, there’s nothing, zero housing options that are possible for a household trying to get by on income support,” said Ms Nyblom, adding that the situation isn’t much better for those who are working.
“The data also shows a decline in affordability for those on minimum wage in Maribyrnong and Hobsons Bay across five years.”
Surprisingly, the RAS found Hobsons Bay to be cheaper for renters on minimum wage than Maribyrnong.
“In Hobsons Bay in 2025, 39 properties were affordable for a household on minimum wage. In Maribyrnong, it was seven properties,” said Ms Nyblom.
“While families and individuals on the minimum wage aren’t totally priced out, it’s incredibly tight. They’re competing for a very scarce resource.”
As for solutions, Ms Nyblom called on the state and federal governments to build more homes.
“We know we’re facing a national shortfall in the tens of thousands when it comes to affordable rentals and the location of these homes is important to get right. In the west, these homes need to be near transport, near services.”
The federal government has committed to building 18,000 social and affordable homes as part of its $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund.
Responding a question on housing affordability in parliament earlier this month, Housing Minister Harriett Shing said the state government would partner with the federal government to deliver new homes through the future fund, while also touting a record number of building approvals and changes to the Residential Tenancies Act 1997 as measures that would help renters.
