Just one town across the Goulburn, Murray and Campaspe valleys has “affordable” rentals.
Numurkah has been listed in the latest National Shelter-SGS Economics and Planning Rental Affordability Index as being one of only three postcodes in regional Victoria outside Greater Melbourne to have affordable rentals.
The other two are Kerang in the state’s north and Nhil in the north-west.
An affordable rental is when rent comprises up to 15 per cent of average household income.
The Rental Affordability Index is published annually by SGS Economics and Planning, National Shelter, Brotherhood of St Laurence and Beyond Bank. It shows that rental affordability has worsened in all major Australian cities and regions, except for Hobart and Canberra.
The most expensive area for renters in regional Victoria is the Surf Coast, with Torquay, Barwon Heads and Ocean Grove requiring the average rental household to spend more than 38 per cent of income on rent.
The index found that rental affordability in Shepparton had declined from “moderately unaffordable” to “unaffordable” since 2022.
“People who are priced out of metropolitan Melbourne would usually look to regional areas, but now only three very small areas of Victoria are considered affordable,” National Shelter CEO Emma Greenhalgh said.
“Put another way, there are only three postcodes where the average household can get a rental that costs less than 15 per cent of total income, and these are not areas with significant job opportunities or other supports to lift people out of poverty.”
Chief of Services at Brotherhood of St Laurence Julie Ware said the figures showed there wasn’t anywhere for Victorians on the lowest incomes to go where they could afford to rent.
“The rental crisis means there is virtually nowhere in regional Victoria that is genuinely affordable for people on low incomes and income support payments,” she said.
“It is wrong that those who are already facing significant poverty and barriers to work are left to pay the price for this unacceptable market failure.”
The index also found that rental affordability has become “moderately unaffordable” for households with an average regional income of $81,566.
SGS Economics and Planning principal Ellen Witte said the situation was set to worsen unless urgent and varied measures were taken.
“We need to attack this problem from multiple angles,” she said.
“This means expanding rapidly social and affordable housing, rethinking how we use tax subsidies and strengthening renters’ rights.
“Regional Victoria’s rental affordability will continue to deteriorate from crisis to catastrophe without urgent intervention from state and federal governments.”
How the rental affordability index works
The Rental Affordability Index measures a typical household’s annual income relative to their annual rent.
If a household is spending more than 30 per cent of the income on rent, they are in “rental stress”. Rental stress means that a household can no longer afford other necessities — like education, energy or food — because their money goes to rent instead.
A RAI score of 100 indicates households spend 30 per cent of income on rent, the critical threshold level for housing stress.
The lower the score the worse the affordability.
Regional RAI scores
Numurkah — RAI score 185 — affordable
Tatura — RAI score 132 — acceptable
Seymour — RAI score 121 — acceptable
Shepparton — RAI score 118 — moderately unaffordable
Benalla — RAI score 118 — moderately unaffordable
Echuca — RAI score 115 — moderately unaffordable
Kyabram — RAI score 115 — moderately unaffordable
Yarrawonga — RAI score 103 — moderately unaffordable
Kialla — RAI score 92 — Unaffordable
Cobram — no figures