Media Release | 30 April 2026
Sandra Brewer MLA
Shadow Treasurer; Housing; Women’s Interests
New reports from Anglicare and the National Housing Supply and Affordability Council
have laid bare the scale of Western Australia’s housing crisis and the Cook Labor
Government’s failure to address it.
Anglicare’s Rental Affordability Snapshot 2026 shows median rents in WA have surged
to $747 per week, up 74 per cent since 2021, with renters needing an extra $55,000 a
year just to keep pace.
Perth continues to lead the nation for rent increases, rising 5.6 per cent over the past
year.
Shadow Treasurer and Housing Minister Sandra Brewer said the findings were a scathing
indictment of the Government’s record.
“These reports confirm what West Australians already know that housing affordability is
getting worse, not better,” she said.
“The Cook Labor Government are focused on press releases when they need to focus
on fixing this deepening crisis.
“Under this Government, rents have skyrocketed, supply has stalled and West
Australians are being priced out of the market. This is no longer just a housing crisis, it’s
an economic failure.”
Anglicare WA CEO Mark Glasson told the ABC today that Western Australia “may well
have lost control of our housing system” and that the state was “actually going
backwards in terms of supply.”
Home completions have fallen for four consecutive quarters, with WA now needing
around 6,500 homes every three months just to keep up with population growth, a target
the State last achieved in 2016.
The National Housing Supply and Affordability Council found Western Australia
experienced the biggest decline in the share of affordable homes, falling from a share of
25 per cent to 17 per cent in 2024-25.
Ms Brewer said the State Government’s policy settings were making matters worse with
WA experiencing the longest build times in the nation and no signs the State Labor
Government was doing enough to speed up supply.
