Thousands left in limbo as National Rental Affordability Scheme comes to an end this year


Feb 5 2026
ABC News

Paula Swann said if her rent increases by $50 a week with the end of the scheme she will need to go into social housing.

In short:
The National Rental Affordability Scheme is coming to an end leaving thousands of vulnerable Australians uncertain about their futures.

The federal government initiative offered tax benefits to home owners renting affordable homes.

What's next?
Experts warn that the new homes built through the Housing Australia Future Fund are not enough to replace the 36,000 NRAS homes lost or the 640,000 new properties needed to meet demand.

After more than a year living in her northern New South Wales home, retiree Paula Swann fears she will be homeless by winter, when a federal rental subsidy is scrapped.   

Ms Swann, 78, is among thousands of renters who rely on the National Rental Affordability Scheme (NRAS), which aimed to create more affordable housing, offering investors cash and tax incentives to rent their properties at 20 per cent below market rate.

When the scheme ends in June, Ms Swann said she fears she will not be able to afford her existing unit in Port Macquarie on the mid north coast, which already costs half her pension.

"We'd have to cope with an additional $100 a fortnight — it's a lot of money when you've got health funds, you've got to run your car, you've got to live," Ms Swann said.

"The unknown is very stressful … it's daunting.

"I don't have any social outings anymore … Virtually, I just sit here in God's waiting room."

Paula Swann sits in her Port Macquarie home.
Ms Swann said she received notice last April that the scheme was coming to an end in 2026.

After receiving notice from her real estate agent last April, Ms Swann said she has been searching for a cheaper property and has considered co-renting with friends.

She has also applied for local social housing, which has waitlists of five to 10 years.   

"Most of the rentals I've put my name down for are over and above what I can really afford … there's no one there to help."

NRAS scaled back
The National Rental Affordability Scheme was introduced in 2008, with funding for the scheme cut in the 2014-2015 budget.

Over the past 10 years, it has been winding down.

All Queensland participants have exited the scheme, with a final 4,591 Australian homes to be phased out by June, including 92 in Port Macquarie.

A construction site in an apartment block revealing damaged balcony units
Ms Swann says she has been searching for a cheaper property than her existing flat, and has considered co-renting with friends.

Over 2,000 homes will be phased out in New South Wales, 1,550 in Western Australia and 596 in Tasmania.

Maiy Azize from housing advocacy campaign Everybody's Home said the change will have a major impact on residents.

"There will be people who cop a huge increase," she said.

"We're going to be losing around 36,000 rentals by the time the scheme winds up."

'Little choice' but to raise rents
Jason Partridge from Port Macquarie's Patterson Real Estate said while he has advocated for the extension of NRAS to the federal housing minister, many tenants in Ms Swann's complex would be forced to find new homes.

"Without the subsidy continuing, most landlords will have little choice but to move rents back toward market levels," he said.

"As tenants seek alternative accommodation, pressure will increase on the most affordable rentals, which are already in short supply locally."
Aerial shot of dozens of houses in neat rows in a new outer-suburban housing estate.
Housing experts say the change might affect the already tight wider rental market.

He said the focus was on supporting impacted tenants, with other community housing organisations also offering assistance to those seeking other accommodation.

Responding to building concerns, he said it was a strata-managed matter, with "necessary restrictions" and safety measures communicated to residents.

A problem 'generations in the making'
A spokesperson for federal Housing Minister Claire O'Neil said the government was "making good progress" in tackling the affordable housing crisis.

"It will take more than a couple of years to turn around a problem generations in the making," the spokesperson said.

They said the Labor government's move to increase the Commonwealth Rent Assistance program by 50 per cent was assisting renters, with 55,000 social and affordable homes to be built through the Housing Australia Future Fund.


Clare O'Neil says the Housing Australia Future Fund aims to fix a problem "generations in the making".

Ms Azize said the change was not coming quickly enough.

"We've got 640,000 people who are in the most extreme rental stress, so those are people who are eligible for social housing. That is a huge shortfall,"  he said.
"We've got waitlists of 10 years in every state and territory; even for people in the absolute margins, the system isn't working."   

Light at the end of the tunnel
Glenys sits in her affordable home in Port Macquarie.

White knight wants big spending leftie governments .
This equals inflation.

White knight likes the unions to close down construction sites if the temp goes above 29 degrees.
This equals less housing.

White knights desires are the direct cause of the housing crisis.

We need less White knights and more people willing to take

Personal responsibility 

Rental WHAT?  I thought you said 'affordability scheme' .... on second reading you did!

What a farce.  The only things that will make renting affordable again is instant reduction of mass immigration, removal of all the criminal imported who are growing rich out of rorts, chopping the profit out of buying houses, bringing the banks under control and mandating that they loan for HOMES first, and getting a grip on our economy via massive changes in the way the country's 'leaders' permit all the potential income earning goods to vanish offshore - HAS to be in return for brown paper bags and promises of future 'jobs' after politics or public service.