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AustraliaCommunity profile

Western Australia

Housing tenure

In Western Australia, 66% of households were purchasing or fully owned their home, 22.7% were renting privately, and 3.5% were in social housing in 2021.

Western Australia's Housing Tenure data provides insights into its socio-economic status as well as the role it plays in the housing market. For example, a high concentration of private renters may indicate a transient area attractive to young singles and couples, while a concentration of home owners indicates a more settled area with mature families and empty-nesters (Household Summary). Tenure can also reflect built form (Dwelling Type), with a significantly higher share of renters in high density housing and a substantially larger proportion of home-owners in separate houses, although this is not always the case.

In conjunction with other socio-economic status indicators in Western Australia, Tenure data is useful for analysing housing markets, housing affordability and identifying public housing areas.

Further reading: How can Councils influence affordable housing.

Q:

Derived from the Census questions:

'Is this dwelling (owned outright, owned with a mortgage etc.)', and 'If this dwelling is being rented, who is it rented from?'

Housing tenure
Western Australia - Households (Enumerated)20212016Change
Tenure typeNumber%Australia %Number%Australia %2016 to 2021
Fully owned291,58528.329.9256,08427.329.6+35,501
Mortgage387,70337.633.2346,22336.932.4+41,480
Renting - Total271,90626.429.5240,45525.628.5+31,451
Renting - Social housing36,1483.53.635,5893.84.0+559
Renting - Private234,12122.725.8203,27121.724.3+30,850
Renting - Not stated1,6370.20.21,5950.20.2+42
Other tenure type22,6802.22.020,9822.21.9+1,698
Not stated55,9005.45.474,3527.97.7-18,452
Total households1,029,774100.0100.0938,096100.0100.0+91,678
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing 2016 and 2021. Compiled and presented by .id (informed decisions).
Please refer to specific data notes for more information

Dominant groups

Analysis of the housing tenure of households of Western Australia in 2021 compared to Australia shows that there was a smaller proportion of households who owned their dwelling; a larger proportion purchasing their dwelling; and a smaller proportion who were renters.

Overall, 28.3% of households owned their dwelling; 37.6% were purchasing, and 26.4% were renting, compared with 29.9%, 33.2% and 29.5% respectively for Australia.

Emerging groups

The largest changes in housing tenure categories for the households in Western Australia between 2016 and 2021 were:

  • Mortgage (+41,480 households)
  • Fully owned (+35,501 households)
  • Renting - Private (+30,850 households)
  • Other tenure type (+1,698 households)

The total number of households in Western Australia increased by 91,678 between 2016 and 2021.

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