It seems that every week, there is a new report or set of numbers showing the grim reality of renting in Australia.

Anglicare Australia's latest Rental Affordability Snapshot, released last week, is the latest. It paints a picture that has never been more bleak.

We found that less than half a per cent of rentals are affordable for a person on the Age Pension, the Disability Support Pension, or the Parenting Payment.

For people out of work, that percentage is zero. Just four listings out of the 46,000 we surveyed are affordable for someone living on JobSeeker.

Young people have it even tougher - we found no listings affordable for someone on Youth Allowance anywhere in Australia. Bear in mind that these numbers include rooms in sharehouses and assume the highest rates of rent assistance.

For years, we have been finding that people on Centrelink payments have almost no options when it comes to renting.

But this year, we saw that the rental crisis is climbing the income ladder. For the first time ever, less than 1 per cent of rentals are affordable for a person working full-time and earning the minimum wage.

It is no wonder we are seeing so many people trapped in rental stress, stuck in rentals that they can't afford and finding themselves so wiped out from paying the rent that they can't pay their bills or put food on the table.

Others have it even tougher, forced to couch surf with friends, sleeping in their cars, or living in tents.

With such grim statistics, it is clear that the private rental market is failing Australians on the lowest incomes.

Many commentators tell us the answer is more supply. But the reality is that Australia has never had more homes per person than it does now, and yet housing has never been more expensive.

Australia has been building up to 240,000 homes each year for more than a decade, far outstripping migration and population growth. It simply isn't making a difference to affordability.

We cannot keep doing more of the same and hoping for a different result. We need to build the homes that Australians actually need. That means building social and affordable housing.

Social housing has been on a steady decline for 40 years and there is a lot of catching up to do.

When asked about his plans to turn that around, the Prime Minister often replies by telling his own story. He grew up in social housing and says he would not be where he is without it.

Yet the sad reality is that the Prime Minister's story is less likely than it ever has been before. With a shortfall of 640,000 social homes across the country, many families like his are being pushed to the brink while they spend years on waiting lists for the homes they need.

READ MORE:

If we are to stem the decline in social housing, the federal government must commit to creating 25,000 social homes per year.

They could start in the next budget, and polling says that Australians want them to. An Australia Institute poll published on Monday shows that a whopping 80 percent of people surveyed want to see more funding for social housing in the next budget.

This is an opportunity for the government to put its money where its mouth is and show Australians that it cares about housing as much as it cares about submarines and tax cuts. Anglicare Australia's latest research on high-income tax breaks shows that the money is there. It's just a matter of priorities.

With so many Australians calling for action, we just need the Prime Minister to reflect on his own journey - and make it a reality for those who come after him.