Families with mortgages are the most susceptible to prolonged housing stress, and those experiencing persistent housing stress are usually on low incomes.

Key points:

• Once in affordable housing, a minority of Australians (18%) tumble into housing affordability stress over a five year period, and for those that do experience a spell of housing affordability stress, the experience is temporary—75 per cent resume living in affordable housing within five years.
• Over a five year period, most households experiencing housing stress have only one spell; nevertheless 40 per cent have fallen back into housing stress within 3 years of their first escape.
• Certain groups are more likely to fall into housing affordability stress: owners with mortgages and families with children are at greater risk of plunging into housing affordability stress.
• Those escaping housing stress mainly do so within the first year of experiencing that stress.
• Shaking off housing stress circumstances is not linked to labour market variables or tenure per se, but does seem to be linked to moving house (and so renters appear to exit more easily than owner purchasers). It seems that other factors that might anchor a household to a certain house or location – including having children – reduce the likelihood of escaping housing stress.

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