‘A social calamity’: record-high rents push tenants to breaking point

David* and his partner had been living in their inner-Sydney property for only 12 months when they were issued with a 50% rent increase. They had been paying $800 a week for a three-bedroom home with a study, one car space and no facilities. Now, they were told, it would jump to $1,200.

"Their justification was it's in line with market value," David says. "We said we'd be prepared to pay $1,000 a week, even though the air conditioning hasn't worked."

The same week, they were served with a lease termination notice instructing them they had 30 days to vacate the property.

"We've negotiated in good faith but they just want to kick the can down the road," David says. "I don't think either of us have slept properly for the last week. It's really heartbreaking."

Tenants across Australia are being issued with steep price rises and eviction notices in major capital cities as rental prices reach record highs.

Sydney has been the hardest hit, with weekly rents climbing by 23.7% in the past 12 months and 4.21% in the past week alone. The median combined cost for units and houses is now $666.41 a week, the latest SQM Research Weekly Rents Index data shows.

In the CBD, the situation is even more dire. The median price for a unit has risen to $847.52 a week - a 30.1% increase from 12 months ago. House renntal prices have risen by 44.4% in the same period, sitting at a median of $1,273.67 a week.