Australian renters face surging costs after end of national affordability scheme

‘It’s quite frightening,’ says a tenant who lost her rent subsidy. As debate stalls over the housing future fund, she’s not the only one who’s frustrated

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Ruth Johnson was afraid her rent would surge when it was no longer covered by a federal government subsidy program. She was right.

For three years, Johnson was one of 32,000 renters benefiting from the National Affordability Rental Scheme (NRAS), a Rudd-era program that paid property owners a subsidy in exchange for them keeping rents on new homes below market rate for a decade.

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