The cheapest suburbs to rent a house and unit in Canberra: Domain report

Canberra has held the top position in the nation of the most expensive capital city to rent a house since December 2019 and if you’re searching for a new rental property, hearing this won’t be the most comforting of news.

But don’t lose hope just yet as there are still affordable houses and units on the rental market that are less than the city’s median asking rent of $580 per week for houses and $480 per week for units.

According to Domain’s latest House Price Report for the September quarter, Belconnen in the Belconnen region was the most affordable suburb to rent a house with a median asking rent of $440 per week, up 0.6 per cent year-on-year. 

This was followed by Gordon in Tuggeranong and Florey in Belconnen tied at $480 per week. In Gordon, this was a 2.1 per cent increase year-on-year and in Florey, the figure remained unchanged year-on-year.

Belconnen region suburbs made up five out of the top 10 most affordable suburbs to rent a house, comprising Belconnen, Florey, Cook, Macgregor and Page.

Badenoch Real Estate leasing manager Jayne Spice said Belconnen suburbs were particularly attractive for tenants because of their affordable rent prices and proximity to the Belconnen Town Centre.

“The closer you are to the Canberra city centre, the most expensive it is. So for people looking for something affordable, the further from the city you have to be,” Ms Spice said.

“And in Belconnen, you have suburbs such as Belconnen and Florey that offer three-bedroom houses for less than $500 per week. It’s affordable with close access to good facilities and not too far from the city.”

Ms Spice said Canberra’s low unemployment rate made it an attractive city to rent in.

“Even though it is the most expensive city to rent a house, there are suburbs that are more affordable so people are willing to live further from the city for this,” she added.

As for Canberra units, Lyons in Woden Valley led the charge as the most affordable suburb to rent a unit with a median asking rent of $356 per week, up 4.7 per cent year-on-year.

This was followed by Curtin in Woden Valley with a median asking rent of $375 per week, down 1.3 per cent year-on-year; and Mawson also in Woden Valley at $390 per week, a figure that remained unchanged year-on-year.

Tim Westphal of Independent Property Management said the Woden Valley region had always had steady growth in recent years, noting its varying stock qualities – from new units to older properties – had been an attractive option for a variety of people.

“Something a lot older will have an affordable price so that is driving that median rent price down,” he said.

“For as long as I’ve been around, Woden Valley suburbs have always been considered an affordable place to rent.”

Amid the pandemic, Ms Spice said she’d seen a number of tenants move on from the rental market and making their first-home purchase.

“With the number of incentives available to first-home buyers, coupled with the record low interest rates available, we’ve been finding a lot of tenants leaving the rental market,” Ms Spice said.

Mr Westphal echoed Ms Spice’s comments, adding that, despite this, Independent Property Management had been “flat-out busy”.

“We’re still seeing a number of applications come through for rental property but not enough stock,” he said.

“Anything that comes on the market is getting picked up really quickly. Whether this will continue into next year? I guess we’ll have to wait and see.”