Renters have seen the cost of keeping a roof over their heads skyrocket over the past year, making it harder to get ahead when wages have flatlined.

Labor’s housing spokesman Jason Clare says this is the biggest bill that millions of Australians pay every week and many are struggling to keep up.

“The fact that Scott Morrison says this isn’t a problem shows just how out of touch he is,” Mr Clare said in a statement on Sunday.

“He needs to get out of The Lodge and into the real world.”

He said while rent has skyrocketed across most of the country, in regional Australia it is through the roof.

For example, in Kensington, Western Australia median priced rents have gone up 27.9 per cent, a $6,240 increase over the year.

Likewise, in Byron Bay NSW, rents have increased 26.7 per cent for a median priced rent, to be up $10,400 on the year, while in Darwin they are up 25.3 per cent or $6,500 annually.

“From childcare and petrol to out of pocket health costs and rent, families know that it’s harder to get ahead under the Morrison government,” Mr Clare said.

Labor has pledged to establish a Housing Australia Future Fund in government which will build 30,000 social and affordable homes across the country over five years.

This includes 20,000 new social housing properties, 4,000 of them for women and children fleeing domestic and family violence and older women on low incomes at risk of homelessness.

There are also 10,000 affordable homes for the “heroes of the pandemic” – frontline workers like police, nurses and cleaners who have kept Australia safe during the COVID pandemic.

By Colin Brinsden, AAP Economics and Business Correspondent in Canberra

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