Home Infographic: Housing affordability stress BACK TO news Share news Infographic: Housing affordability stress Housing affordability stress affects lower income Australians 29 Feb 2016 The national situation facing 347,000 Australian Q1 households renting in 2011. Q1 households are those whose income is in the bottom quintile (i.e. the bottom 20 per cent) of Australia's income distribution. Housing affordability stress occurs when a household in the bottom 40 per cent of Australia's income distribution levels (i.e. in the bottom two quintiles) pays 30 per cent or more of its income in housing costs. Source: Table 15, Hulse, K., Reynolds, M., and Yates, J. (2014) Changes in the supply of affordable housing in the private rental sector for lower income households, 2006–11. Final Report no. 235 72% of Q1 households in Australia are in housing affordability stress Hulse, K., Reynolds, M., and Yates, J. (2014) Changes in the supply of affordable housing in the private rental sector for lower income households, 2006–11.