Average Australian renter paid $3,000 more last year, research finds

Australians paid an extra $7.1bn in rent over the past 12 months, with the average renter spending $62 more a week than they did a year ago, or more than $3,000 a year.

According to the research, rents have increased 13.8%, from an average of $448 a week in June 2021 to $510 a week in June this year for households that are managed by a real estate agent, with the figure slightly lower for private rentals.

The figures exclude renters in social and community housing, employer-provided housing and residential parks, as well as private rentals leased by relatives.

Across the 2.2 million rental properties captured nationally, this results in a windfall for landlords of $7.1bn between June 2021 and June 2022, costing each household $3,151 a year.

The party wants a two-year national rental freeze, followed by ongoing rent caps and an end to no-grounds evictions, minimum standards for rental properties, and tenant rights to make minor improvements to the home.

The $7.1bn in extra rent from 2021 to 2022 may end up being dwarfed by rental increases over the forthcoming year, with Guardian Australia reporting this week that tenants are being pushed to breaking point, with weekly rents in Sydney climbing by 23.7%. Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth have all recorded rent increases of more than 15% on the back of interest rate hikes and a lack of supply.

The focus on rental affordability comes as the government prepares to hand down its first budget on 25 October, which the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, has said will have a focus on cost of living concerns.

However, he has maintained the government is constrained by the fiscal position it inherited from the Coalition, pointing to a trillion dollars in debt and future spending demands.

On Wednesday, releasing the final budget outcome for 2021-22, Chalmers said he could not afford to extend the fuel excise cut and acknowledged that Australians were being hit by cost of living pressures.

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, who has two investment properties, has previously rubbished the Greens proposal when asked if he supported the idea in principle.