Overall, the vast majority of Australian households found their dwelling acceptable. Public renters were more likely to express dissatisfaction with their dwelling than private renters, despite public housing being more affordable. This suggests that some public housing tenants trade off suitability for affordability. These figures include rental rebates to public renters, but not private rent assistance. The average value of private rent assistance has been estimated at less than half that of public rental rebates.
Public housing is provided at low cost.
Over recent decades, public housing has been increasingly targeted towards those most in need. Many of the lone-person households in public housing were aged people. One measure of unmet demand for public housing is the number of applicants added to waiting lists each year. That is, for every household newly accommodated in public housing, at least two more applied for housing 3 . On average, people in public housing receive a higher level of subsidy than those receiving other forms of housing assistance such as private rent assistance.