A new report has laid the state of renting - and many are spending more than a quarter of the income just pay the rent. 

The latest Suburbtrends "Rental Pain Index" for April 2024 lays bare the tough conditions many Western Plains App residents face in the rental market today.

With rental prices climbing and homes hard to find, the report highlights the strain renters are under across the country.  

In Narromine, people spend 28% of their income on rent, with the median rent price at $285 per week.  

In Gilgandra, 25% of income is spent on rent, which is also $285 a week. In Warrumbungle and Brewarrina, it sits at 21%. 

In Walgett, it was 15% at $295 a week. Its 14% in Bogan. 

For Bourke and Cobar, the weekly rent is just 8% of income. 

Kent Lardner. Image: openagentnews 

Kent Lardner, the founder of Suburbtrends, points out the stark realities revealed by the data: "Our April 2024 findings show that rental stress isn't just sticking around; it's getting worse". 

Mr Lardner believes we need to think differently about housing solutions, like getting creative with incentives for homeowners to make better use of their space: "Imagine if we could encourage retirees to rent out their homes while they travel slowly through other countries. It could help them save money with a lower cost-of-living and instantly add more homes back into the rental market."  

He concludes, "We urgently need innovative solutions to alleviate the rental crisis in Australia. Mobile home villages and prefabricated small homes represent immediate and practical options to expand our housing supply as quickly as possible."  

The report comes as newly released government figures show as at 31 March 2024, the number of bonds held by the NSW Rental Bonds Board was 970,428. As at 30 September 2023, the number was 966,172 - an increase of 4,256 homes. 

However, the most recent ABS migration figures (up to the September 2023 quarter) show that the number of additional people who came to NSW from overseas in the year was a net gain of 186,433.