Housing and Mental Health

Housing and Mental Health

Australia’s housing crisis has been growing over the last 25 years.

We often hear that the goal of owning a home is becoming more and more unreachable…

…and that rents are increasing.

If Australians are struggling to find stable housing…

…how is this affecting our mental health?

A Growing Problem

The issue of the ‘housing crisis’ or housing affordability is growing more and more present.

Data from Google Trends, which analyses Google web searches, shows growing interest Australia-wide on the topic of housing since 2018.

The ‘Interest Score’ is standardised on a scale from 0-100, with higher scores indicating greater popularity of searches relative to other Google searches.

Considering some more targeted research, a 2024 national survey of 16,000 Australians revealed that housing affordability and homelessness is the top issue affecting their local community.

The survey reached Australians in every electorate. This level of consensus suggests that housing affordability is a very real concern for many Australians.

What’s going on?

The concern indicated is understandable. Rental affordability has declined in every state over the last 7 years. Keep scrolling to see.

The RAI is calculated quarterly. The average for each year will be presented.

As of 2024, Sydney and Perth have the worst affordability.

Followed by Brisbane, Adelaide and Hobart.

Whereas, the ACT and Melbourne are relatively more affordable.

The rental affordability index (RAI) provides a measure of rental prices relative to household incomes. A score of 100 means that 30% of a household’s income goes towards rent.

This is generally accepted as the threshold for ‘housing stress’ - scores below this indicate that the cost of rent relative to household income may affect the ability to afford other basic needs.

Overall, there is a clear trend of decreasing rental affordability, particularly since 2020. Some regions have been more affected than others.

Hover over the graph to explore the data before moving on to the next section.

Harder to rent, harder to buy

On top of decreasing affordability of rents, data from the Australian census shows it is also now harder to buy a home.

The following plots compare home ownership for 25-39-year-olds in 1991, 2006, and 2021.

In 1991, two-thirds (65.8%) owned a home (either outright or with a mortgage) and one-third (30.2%) rented.

In 2006, there was an 11-point drop in outright home ownership, and slight increases in the proportion who had a mortgage or rented.

In 2021, 25-39 year-olds were more than three times less likely to own a home outright than similar-aged individuals 25 years earlier, and about 1.5 times as likely to be renting.

The data show that over time, more Australians have been renting, yet renting in itself is also becoming harder to afford.

A 2023 community survey indicated that about 4 out of 5 renters are experiencing housing stress, as defined above.

Research has shown that spending more than 30% of income on housing is strongly associated with declining mental health, even after controlling for the influence of broader financial instability.

How bad is it?

Data from Suicide Prevention Australia’s Community Tracker shows that while housing access and affordability remains a top cause of elevated distress across all states, the rate has remained relatively stable since mid-2022.

Data is not available before September 2022, so this section is greyed out.

Despite this, a separate annual poll of Australians shows a steep increase in the proportion who believe that housing access and affordability pose the one of the most significant risks to suicide rates over the 12 months following the date of the survey.

There is also a large discrepancy between the two. While about 1 in 5 report experiencing elevated distress in the context of housing, 4 in 5 perceive housing affordability to be one of the most significant risks to suicide. The latter may be incorporating loved ones who are not themselves experiencing housing stress.

A cycle that’s hard to break

The issue is further complicated by the bidrectional nature of the relationship: those with poorer mental health are more likely to have difficulty finding stable housing, and those who are having difficulty finding stable housing are more likely to have poorer mental health.

A 2020 study by Baker et al. utilising data from the Household, Income, and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey from 2001 to 2016, determined the impact of cumulative housing affordability stress (HAS) on mental health according to baseline mental health.

Individuals with the poorest initial mental health experienced the largest reduction in mental health after 5 years of ongoing HAS.

Even those with moderate mental health issues experienced a general decrease in mental health, although this change is smaller.

Those with better mental health appeared to be more protected from the deleterious impact of HAS.

These results underscore the challenging nature of this bidirectional relationship. Someone experiencing mental health issues before being exposed to HAS is likely to have their mental health worsen, which in itself is a barrier to overcoming HAS.

As indicated by a national sample in a 2024 survey led by Everybody’s Home (an alliance of organisations campaigning for solutions to housing), the major concerns that stem from the housing crisis are shown on the left.

Circle size is proportional to the percentage of people who endorsed that item. Hover for more detail.

These trends and results are not surprising.

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is a conceptual framework sometimes used to describe our basic needs.

Once needs at the bottom are fulfilled, one can meet strive to meet needs higher up.

Stable housing fulfills the physiological needs of shelter, which also lends itself to providing food and sleep.

Stable housing is also relevant to safety, by providing personal security and stability.

A stable home can also be place to find love and belonging.

Meeting the basic need of stable housing can then allow individuals to meet their needs for love, belonging, self-esteem, respect and the ability to reach their full potential.

This provides a just brief snapshot of the issue. Other factors including homelessness and social housing have not been covered here.