Affordable rents
The Benchmark Affordable housing Rent Guide is a tool specifically developed for planners, councillors, housing providers, developers and others engaged in the provision of affordable housing to assist them in identifying affordable rents for 'very low-income' and 'low-income' earners for 'appropriate' rental accommodation.
Benchmark rent levels:
- are based on the low-income benchmark as used in the national report on government services;
- apply to the most appropriate dwelling size for a particular household type according to public housing entitlement criteria set by the Queensland Department of Communities; and
- represent the maximum rent levels that can be afforded by 'very low-income' and 'low-income' households for those dwelling sizes.
The Guide is based on low-income households paying no more than 30 per cent of gross household income on rent, but is not intended to function as a rent-setting mechanism. Potential applications of the Guide include:
- Providing an affordability template for new development
Benchmark rents represent a means of establishing affordability criteria for different types of dwellings and households where new housing is being developed. - Retaining existing affordable housing stock
In the context of a planning scheme or local area plan, the benchmark rents provide an effective means of identifying individual dwellings as affordable housing. - Monitoring existing affordable housing stock
Benchmark rents may be used as a performance indicator for establishing and monitoring the proportion of affordable rental housing in an area.
The Benchmark Affordable Housing Rent Guide will be updated at least annually in accordance with changes in Centrelink benefit levels. Enquiries about the application of the Guide should be emailed to affordable@housing.qld.gov.au
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