Illawarra renters are unlikely to feel immediate relief from the federal budget’s housing package, despite major national promises to boost supply and reshape investor tax concessions.
The 2026/27 federal budget includes a new $2 billion Local Infrastructure Fund with the government saying the fund will support up to 65,000 homes over the decade and bring total investment in housing-enabling infrastructure to $6.3 billion.
Reserve Bank of Australia employee Jake Bradley said the housing package appeared to be aimed more at prospective homeowners than renters.
“It is a package that is quite focused on home ownership, favouring new homeowners rather than renters,” Mr Bradley said.
He said the impact on rents remained uncertain, with modelling predictions differing on how the measures would flow through to the rental market.
“There is quite a lot of variety and controversy about the impacts, but the official budget estimates say it should be about $2 a week [increase] in the near term,” he said.
Mr Bradley said the longer-term effect would depend on whether changes to the housing market reduced competition and helped ease rent prices over time.
Local rental data shows the Illawarra’s housing problem is not only a future supply issue, for many renters, the crisis is already here.
Data from the NSW Department of Communities and Justice Statistics, shows median rents have increased over recent years, placing growing pressure on renters in Wollongong. The data shows Wollongong local government area rent rose from $460 in 2020 to $680 in 2025.
Wollongong renter and UOW student Minette Kirkegaard says she has had to make sacrifices because of her rental cost increasing.
“Rent is going up again so I am moving into a room where I can only fit my bed in order to just start saving some money,” Ms Kirkegaard said.
Rental stress in the Illawarra was already widespread before the latest rent increases. In the 2021 Census, 37.1 per cent of Wollongong LGA renter households were paying more than 30 per cent of household income in rent. With the nationwide statistic sitting at 32.2 per cent.
That means more than one in three renter households in the Wollongong region were already in rental stress before the post-pandemic rental surge.
The budget also points to the government’s work with states and territories through A Better Deal for Renters, which aims to strengthen and harmonise renters’ rights across Australia. It notes previous increases to Commonwealth Rent Assistance, which now supports more than 1.4 million renters.
But for many Illawarra renters, those measures may not be enough to offset rising rents and tight vacancy rates.
