More than one in three young people believe they will be renters for life as millions of Australians have been priced out of the property market for the foreseeable future.
The findings were revealed on Sunday according to the latest Big Youth Survey by Australian EdTech organisation Year13.
The survey, which polled 18-24-year-olds, painted a grim picture of the housing crisis, with 36 per cent of respondents believing homeownership was out of reach.
The growing belief that renting will be a permanent option has reflected the soaring costs of housing across major Australian cities.
The median dwelling value in Sydney has stood at $1,190,000 while Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth and Canberra have sat in the $800,000-$900,000 range.
Tough economic conditions, marked by high interest rates and price pressures, have limited Aussies’ buying power and left many without hope of ever owning their home.
Nationals Leader David Littleproud described the situation facing young Australians as “sad” during an interview with Weekend Today on Sunday.
“They’ve lost hope. And what we need to do is build supply. And this has been an abject failure of state and local governments who hold the pen on this,” he said.
Mr Littleproud blamed the housing crisis on the Albanese government’s immigration policy, arguing the influx of migrants and lack of builders was exacerbating the housing crisis.
“We are going to bring in, under the Labor Government, 1.67 million people. That’s a city bigger than the size of Adelaide and we haven’t got the people to build the homes,” he said.
The Albanese government recently moved to promote tradies on the nation’s draft priority skills list for migrants.
Tradies had previously been placed behind professions like yoga instructors, dog handlers and jewellery designers on the draft “core skills” occupations list.
BuildSkills Australia issued a warning in December that the government faces a shortfall of 200,000 workers in 2025 and a shortfall of 370,000 by 2030.
The rising cost of living and skyrocketing housing prices, driven by a lack of new developments, has forced many young people to put off plans for independence.
The Year13 survey revealed 25 per cent of Australian youths were still living at home while many relied on support from their parents to afford the high cost of renting.
One in four said they intended to move out of their family home between the ages of 25 and 29.
Meanwhile a small minority—around 3 per cent—indicated they had no intention of leaving home at all.
The situation has worsened over the past year as 67 per cent believed their chances of buying a home had worsened in the past 12 months.
The survey results suggest a deepening sense of despair among young people, many of whom view the dream of owning a home as increasingly out of reach.
In response to these concerns, Housing Minister Clare O’Neil has defended the government’s position, which has sought to prevent rapid decreases in house prices.
Ms O’Neil recently acknowledged the struggles young Australians were facing but reaffirmed the government’s commitment to “sustainable” growth in property prices.
“We’re not trying to bring down house prices,” she said during an interview with Triple J Hack.
“Our government’s policies are not going to reduce house prices. We want house prices to grow sustainably.”
She called for sustainable price growth, more houses entering the market and the rental vacancy rate increasing to relieve pressure on renters.
The Albanese government was finally able to pass its Build to Rent and Help to Buy schemes through the senate at the end of 2024.
Labor has sought to address the housing crisis through Help to Buy, providing funds to homebuyers; and Build to Rent, giving tax incentives to investors building rental homes.
The housing crisis will likely become one of the major debate topics leading into the federal election as housing was the number one topic in federal parliament for 2024.