Australians on government support payments can only afford 6 per cent of rental properties, analysis by Anglicare shows.
Taking a snapshot of the more than 67,000 rental properties available across Australia on March 24, the advocacy group found only 3,729 were affordable for households on government income support payments.
The number grew for minimum wage earners, but still only represented 28 per cent or 18,976 of available rentals.
"These results show that finding an affordable and suitable home to rent in the private market is extraordinarily challenging," the Anglicare report released on Monday says.
For single people on the aged pension there was just over 1 per cent of properties suitable and for those on the Disability Support Pension 485 rentals were affordable.
There wasn't one rental property affordable for a single person on Newstart or Youth Allowance in Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, Adelaide, Darwin or Perth on the specific day in March.
Anglicare wants negative gearing and capital gains tax exemptions phased out and the billions saved to go towards social and affordable rental housing for those in need.
It is also calling for a boost in Commonwealth Rent Assistance and changes to state and territory laws regarding renters' rights.
The group calculates affordability on the basis that rent accounts for no more than 30 per cent of a household budget.
