Subsidised affordable rental housing: lessons from Australia and overseas

A supply of affordable rental housing is essential to allow households to transition out of scarce public and social housing and into the private rental sector. Affordable rental options are essential for those households already in the private rental sector who are struggling to pay market rents. This report, funded by the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI), explores the lessons that can be learnt from the National Rental Affordability Scheme (NRAS) (discontinued in 2014), which sought to stimulate the supply of affordable rental housing for low- and moderate-income earners. Drawing on evidence from comparable international programs for subsidising rental housing supply, the report makes recommendations on how to design and fund a new scheme to deliver the supply of affordable rental housing required in Australia.