The $4700 bill every renter pays kills home ownership dreams – realestate.com.au

There’s one bill renters can’t escape – and it’s not rent or mortgage.

New Money.com.au data shows that the average Australian has spent $4,700 on a move in the past decade, roughly $1,567 each time they packed up, and one in five paid between $5,000 and $10,000 just to change homes.

The research shows that tenants are moving about every three years and costs are piling up, from movers and new bonds to overlapping rents and end-of-lease cleaning, adding to the pressure from rising weekly rents and tight rental supply.

Money.com.au property expert Nick Burgess says moving costs such as removals, deposits and paying rent for two properties at the same time have become a serious financial burden, and recent years have added to that pressure.

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“If you’re a renter who needs to move at the end of each lease to avoid a rent increase, or if you’re moving interstate or to other major cities, moving costs can quickly become prohibitive,” says Burgess.

“I have seen cases where a couple spent $7000 moving from Brisbane to the Gold Coast, and another family spent $5000 moving from Geelong to Melbourne for work.”

He argues that if rent money is considered “dead money,” then the moving tax is a silent killer because it’s thousands of dollars tenants spend every time they move, and over the years those costs have truly snowballed.

Put into perspective, the average moving cost of $4,700 is about one-tenth of a 5 percent down payment on the average combined home and unit price of $883,000, which Burgess says is another barrier to homeownership for many renters.

The most painful line items are well-known: Nearly half of renters pointed to moving costs at 45 percent, and paying a new deposit before returning the old one at 44 percent.

Another 27 percent said double rent during the overlap is a major stressor, while 24 percent cited end-of-rental cleaning costs.

Money.com.au property expert Nick Burgess

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Fewer tenants blamed furloughs (9 percent) and the cost of reconnecting utilities (7 percent).

The toll is not uniform across the country.

Queensland renters paid the most to move, at an average of $5100 over the past decade – about $1700 per move – while the ACT followed closely at $5000, or $1667 per move.

New South Wales came in at $4,800, or $1,600 per move, while Victoria and the Northern Territory were both at $4,700, or $1,567 per move.

Western Australia averaged $4500, or $1500 per move.

New research from Money.com.au shows renters are packing up their belongings about every three years, and the costs are piling up quickly. Photo by Richard Gosling

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South Australia was again lower at $3700, or $1233 per move, and Tasmania was the cheapest, averaging $3000 over the decade, or about $1000 per move.

Generationally, millennials are hit the hardest.

They paid an average of $5,300 over the past decade, well above Generation X at $4,600, Generation Z at $4,300 and Baby Boomers at $4,200.

With tenants changing every few years and paying bills that can eclipse a month’s rent, the moving tax is taking shape as hidden costs Australians can’t ignore.