TENANCY SKILLS INSTITUTE
THOUSANDS of Queensland renters could be only one financial setback away from losing their homes, with new research warning the State has one of the highest rates of at-risk tenancies in Australia.
Research from the Tenancy Skills Institute estimates almost half a million Australians could be living in private rental tenancies at risk of failure, raising fears more households could be pushed into housing insecurity or homelessness without earlier intervention.
Queensland recorded an average 7.1 per cent of tenancies considered at risk in the 2026 research, behind only the Northern Territory at 14.05 per cent and Western Australia at 13.02 per cent.
The Tenancy Skills Institute’s Two Tides of Homelessness: Can we change course from surging to receding tides? research paper surveyed 327 property managers across Australasia between March and July this year.
Of those, 268 Australian property managers collectively responsible for about 90,000 tenancies identified almost 6000 as being at risk of failure.
Based on those results, the institute estimates almost half a million Australians could be living in at-risk tenancies – about 115,000 more people than indicated by the same survey last year.
The research suggests financial assistance and earlier intervention could prevent many struggling households from reaching the point where their tenancy collapses.
More than half of the primary factors contributing to tenancies becoming at risk could potentially be addressed through early intervention involving a suitably designed rental subsidy scheme, according to the institute.
The survey also examined 2770 Australian tenancies that had failed during the previous 12 months.
Property managers believed more than half could have been saved if appropriate support had been available and the problems threatening those tenancies had been addressed.
