Rental market sees massive shift as multi-family applications rise

Key points

• Extended families and friends are teaming up to apply for rental properties as tight supply pushes prices higher. Brisbane real estate agent Avi Khan says multigenerational families and friendship groups now make up one in five rental applications to his agency.
• Perth renter Grady Toomath shares a home with his brother and another housemate, with rent rising from $315 to $715 a week since 2019.
• Property economist Lyndall Bryant says renters have been overlooked by recent housing policy, while the national rental vacancy rate sat at 1 per cent in the September quarter.