Typical weekly rents in more than 20 Victorian regional and rural towns have increased by 50 per cent, or more, since September 2020. Picture: Zoe Phillips.
Regional Victoria has been hit hardest by the state’s rental crisis with weekly rents surging more than 50 per cent in more than 20 towns across five years.
The shocking increase has been centred on the most affordable homes in areas including Portland, suburbs of Greater Bendigo, Morwell, Echuca and Wodonga — where tenants are now having to find as much as $150 extra a week in the timeline.
The new research commissioned by insurance brokers Insuregroup also revealed Melbourne has not been spared with significant rent increases costing tenants hundreds of extra dollars every week for apartments and units in several suburbs.
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The report warned 50 per cent-plus hikes in typical rents for one-bedroom units and apartments across 23 rural and regional Victorian areas represented “a fundamental deterioration in housing affordability for the some of the state’s most financially vulnerable tenants”.
One-bedroom residences have traditionally been the most affordable option for many renters.
Experts have cautioned that the study “well and truly shattered” the view that regional Victoria offered an affordable escape from city rents.
The news comes after the Victorian Greens this week submitted a bill to state parliament seeking a two-year freeze on rents, followed by a cap on increases that would stop them being raised faster than wages.
Earlier in the week, the Premier Jacinta Allan-led government announced rental reforms which would allow tenants to fight back against excessive rent rises.
This East Bendigo one-bedroom unit is available to rent for $400 a week. Across five years, the town’s median rent for such properties has risen 84 per cent to $350 a week.
The report shows that rents in several Melbourne areas have also increased in five years. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Ian Currie.
According to the report, regional Victoria’s most extreme median rent increase for one-bedroom homes has hit the southwest city of Portland which has a population of more than 11,000 people.
Typical rents in the coastal hub have more than doubled from $170 a week to $345 a week in five years.
And median rents in some Greater Bendigo areas have surged 60 to 84 per cent in the time frame.
This included from $190 to $350 in Flora Hill and East Bendigo, and from $185 to $320 in Golden Square and Kangaroo Flat.
A one-bedroom home in Echuca that’s up for rent at $290 a week. The town’s typical $278 weekly rent for one-bedroom apartments and units has experienced a 54 per cent rise since September 2020.
Potential renters inspecting a Melbourne apartment. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Luis Ascui.
For two-bedroom flats, Morwell, Moe-Newborough, Wodonga, Warrnambool and Echuca, plus Vermont, Forest Hill and Burwood East in Melbourne, all experienced rent increases of more than 50 per cent.
Insuregroup director Stirling Sanderson said the regional towns were often home to residents earning lower-than-average wages, plus had limited housing stock with a lack of cheaper alternatives.
“This points to structural vulnerabilities in regional housing markets that were exposed by the pandemic and have not recovered, couples and small families in these towns are carrying a
disproportionate share of the rental burden,” Mr Sanderson said.
The report stated that regional Victoria was still suffering from a Covid-driven migration wave, which began in 2020 and caused soaring demand in an already-thin housing market with “virtually no social housing buffer”.
In December 2024, rental advocate and Victorian Socialists election candidate Jordan van den Lamb started a campaign identifying homes which had stood empty for several years amid the state’s rental crisis.
The study analysed data from Homes Victoria and Residential Tenancies Bond Authority, from September 2020 to September 2025.
Mr Sanderson said when it came to Melbourne, median rents for one-bedroom apartments and units had risen by 64 per cent to hit $393 in Bayswater, 57 per cent to reach $530 in Vermont, Forest Hill and Burwood East, and 57 per cent to $455 Newport and Spotswood.
Three-bedroom flats in some Melbourne suburbs now have higher typical rents than three-bedroom houses in the same area, including in Port Melbourne, Springvale, Reservoir and Footscray.
Tenants Victoria chief executive Jennifer Beveridge says regional Victoria’s reputation as an affordable escape from city rents is no longer in play.
Tenants Victoria chief executive Jennifer Beveridge said the data was “further proof out-of-control rental increases are a statewide crisis”.
“When a family in the south west is paying double the rent from five years ago, that means impossible choices about essential items,” Ms Beveridge said.
“The idea that regional Victoria offers an affordable escape from city rents has been well and truly shattered.”
The Victorian government’s new rental reforms, which would allow tenants to fight back against excessive rent rises, mean they could apply for Consumer Affairs Victoria and the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal to deliver a verdict on whether the rise is fair.
This Moe one-bedroom unit is listed with a weekly $270 asking rent. The town’s median $250 weekly rent for one-bedroom homes has jumped 56 per cent in five years.
This would be based on factors such as rent increases in the past two years, as well as the tenants’ circumstances when assessing if a hike is fair.
Ms Beveridge encouraged all renters who received a rent rise above the Consumer Price Index, about 3.3 per cent in Melbourne, to apply for a free assessment with Consumer Affairs Victoria within 30 days of receiving the notice.
VIC: WHERE ONE-BEDROOM HOME MEDIAN RENTS HAVE SURGED
| Town/suburb | Median rent September 2020 | Median rent September 2025 | 5-year change |
| Portland | $170 | $345 | 103% |
| Flora Hill, Bendigo East | $190 | $350 | 84% |
| Golden Square, Kangaroo Flat | $185 | $320 | 73% |
| Morwell | $160 | $275 | 72% |
| Benalla | $180 | $305 | 69% |
| Hamilton | $155 | $260 | 68% |
| Bayswater | $240 | $393 | 64% |
| North Bendigo | $200 | $320 | 60% |
| Wendouree, Alfredton | $180 | $285 | 58% |
| Dromana, Portsea | $250 | $393 | 57% |
Source: Homes Victoria – Rental Report (Quarterly): Moving Annual Rents by Suburb, September 2025, Residential Tenancies Bond Authority, Victorian Rental Crisis: Data Study Report commissioned by Insuregroup.
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