Australian renters face surging costs after end of national affordability scheme

Ruth Johnson was afraid her rent would surge when it was no longer covered by a federal government subsidy program. She was right.

For three years, Johnson was one of 32,000 renters benefiting from the National Affordability Rental Scheme (NRAS), a Rudd-era program that paid property owners a subsidy in exchange for them keeping rents on new homes below market rate for a decade.

When Guardian Australia first spoke to Johnson in October 2021, she was working part-time and sole-parenting her toddler. She had moved into the NRAS property after unexpectedly becoming a single parent a few months before her daughter was born.

NRAS cost approximately $3.1bn over its lifetime, which critics said was too much for the relatively small amount of affordable housing it made available. It was scrapped by the Abbott government in 2014. The homes already participating were grandfathered and new ones were unable to join.

About 30% of all NRAS properties were located in Queensland, by far the highest concentration. About half of all properties nationally were owned and managed by private companies, and half by not-for-profit community housing groups.

Many NRAS properties have already exited the scheme; all of the subsidies will have expired by 2026.

To address the rental crisis, the Queensland state government this week put forward a proposal to limit rent increases to once a year, but has come under fire from tenants advocates who say the proposal does not go far enough.

Johnson said she has not sought a new rental because the idea of trying to negotiate the current rental market was too stressful.

Do you have a story about the end of NRAS? Contact: stephanie.convery@theguardian.com