Australia spends billions of dollars more on tax breaks for property investors than on social housing, homelessness and rent assistance combined, according to research by the Australian Council of Social Service (Acoss).

The analysis comes as new data from the Productivity Commission reveals the share of homes dedicated to social housing has dropped to a record low 3.6%, from 5.7% in the 1990s.

The collapse in accessible homes for low-income families coincides with an affordability crisis that has seen rents soar, waitlists for social housing blow out and rising homelessness.

A week after the OECD called on the Albanese government to boost its investment in social housing, research by Acoss reveals that tax concessions for landlords cost $12.3bn in 2025.

In contrast, total expenditure on the key housing assistance programs totalled $9.6bn.

Graph showing government expenditure on housing investor tax breaks compared to expenditure on social housing, homelessness services & rent assistance

As richer and older Australians enjoy the lion’s share of generous tax concessions for landlords, the number of households on public housing waitlists has climbed to about 190,000, up from 169,000 in 2024, and 141,000 in 2018.

Jacqueline Phillips, Acoss’s acting chief executive, said the report “shows housing stress and homelessness are getting worse while absurdly generous tax breaks drive up home prices and supercharge inequality in our society”.

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With a Greens-led parliamentary committee examining property tax breaks, Phillips urged the government to curb capital gains tax concessions and negative gearing, and redirect the billions of dollars into achieving a more ambitious social housing target.

“More people are struggling to afford the private rental market, pushing them into homelessness and on to growing social housing waitlists,” she said.

“With new social housing accounting for less than 2% of homes built each year, the situation is set to worsen, not improve.”

Despite being one of the richest countries in the world, the 3.6% share of homes dedicated to social housing is only about half the OECD average.

Fewer than 2% of homes being built now are for social housing, down from 15% in the 1970s, and 22% in the 1950s.

The Acoss analysis of the Productivity Commission data also showed the proportion of households in “greatest need” on social housing waitlists – people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness – has jumped from 26% to 41% of the public housing waitlist over the past decade.

Graph showing public housing as a share of all housing

With the median asking rent up by 43% over the past five years to reach $681 a week, households are now dedicating a record third of their income to rental payments, according to property research firm Cotality.

As a result, housing stress has also become more entrenched among Australians on low incomes.

Persistent homelessness, which refers to those who are homeless for more than seven months in a two-year period, has climbed from 22% in 2019, to 27% in 2025, the PC data showed.

The national spokesperson for Everybody’s Home, Maiy Azize, said Australia’s housing crisis had been ongoing for so long that it had become the accepted norm.

“People have just gotten used to it, they’ve gotten used to existing in this constant state of rental stress,” she said.

“The data shows people who are getting help, even people who are getting the most government support that’s available to them, half of them are still in rental stress.”

Azize called on the government to “flip the equation” by phasing out handouts for property investors and start opening more community housing.