The cheapest suburbs to rent in near Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane

Australians looking for a cheap rental home will have to live more than 40 kilometres from a major capital, an analysis of Domain rental data reveals. 

But in doing so, they could save more than $1600 per week compared to renting in the inner city’s most expensive areas.

Domain’s Rental Report for the September quarter shows that prices vary widely between rentals in the inner and outer suburbs.  There is a $1688 difference in weekly rents in Sydney’s most and least expensive suburbs. In Melbourne, the difference is $643 per week, while Brisbane has a $470 gap between the two.

Jayson Ryder, managing director of Ryder Real Estate, which operates in Melbourne’s outer west, said affordability was the main driver for people renting in the cheaper outer suburbs.

“I think affordability is the number one thing … as well as having a good train network, schools, shopping and other amenities,” Mr Ryder said. 

Families, older couples, single people and new migrants were all moving to cheaper areas to be closer to family, friends or to where they grew up, Mr Ryder said.

In Sydney, the cheapest suburb in which to rent a house was in Willmot, about 49 kilometres west of the CBD. 

The median rent for a house there was $310 per week, which would get you something like this three-bedroom home in Houtman Avenue (pictured).

A little closer to the city, 47 kilometres west of the Sydney CBD, Lethbridge Park would set you back an extra $10 a week and was the second cheapest place to live. 

For $320 a week you can rent a three-bedroom home in Tahiti Avenue.

Meanwhile, in Melbourne, the outer western suburbs of Melton and Melton South offer the cheapest rental medians at $320 per week. 

Both 45 kilometres from Melbourne, they offer three-bedders, including those in Barries Road, Melton and Grace Street in Melton South.

If living west was not what you’re looking for, you could rent a house in Doveton in Melbourne’s outer south-east for similar money. Doveton’s rental median was $325 per week, for a three-bedroom home.

This neat weatherboard home in Berry Court would set you back $330 per week in rent.

Having a car may get you to and from the outer suburbs of Sydney and Melbourne where rent is cheap, but in Brisbane, tenants will need to take a ferry to get to the city.

Russell Island, 50 kilometres from Brisbane’s CBD in Moreton Bay, offers Brisbane’s lowest rents with a median weekly rent of $250. The island not only has low rents but beautiful views, depending on where you lay your hat.

MacLeay Island was next cheapest, at $275 per week. 

For something inland and west of Brisbane, Leichhardt offers comparatively cheap rents for $280 per week. 

For that money, renters can get a three-bedroom house like this weatherboard home in Wills Street.

Rents were cheapest in Brisbane compared to the two other capitals, staying flatter across the past five years.

Domain economist Trent Wiltshire said rents across Greater Brisbane’s regions had increased only slightly in recent years.

“In Brisbane City Council, the median asking rent rose by just 1 per cent over the past five years,” Mr Wiltshire said. 

Cheapest suburbs to rent in – Melbourne

Cheapest suburbs to rent in – Sydney

Cheapest suburbs to rent in – Brisbane