April RentRabbit.com.au Tenant Opportunity Report reveals Darwin’s top 10 tenant-friendly suburbs

New research commissioned by RentRabbit.com.au has found Darwin’s standout suburbs for tenants who want to live in good locations but have only average incomes.

The quarterly RentRabbit.com.au Tenant Opportunity Report identifies the top 10 suburbs in Darwin where tenants can find affordable rents in decent suburbs that are within commuting distance of the CBD.

To make sure locations are tenant-friendly, suburbs are excluded if their SA3 is more than 100km from the CBD.

(The Australian Bureau of Statistics refers to a cluster of suburbs as a ‘statistical area 3’, or a ‘SA3’. SA3s often closely align to local government areas.)

Suburbs are also excluded if they have a low socio-economic status, as measured by having a SEIFA socio-economic score of less than 4.

(A SEIFA economic score is an Australian Bureau of Statistics measure that ranks areas in Australia according to relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage. If a suburb has a score of 4, it means it’s in the fourth decile [i.e. 31-40%] in terms of its socio-economic position.)

That leaves a small list of Darwin suburbs. To establish a top 10 ranking, these suburbs are then ranked based on weekly rental rates (from lowest to highest).

All the suburbs had a median weekly rent of $590 or below and were located within 30km of the CBD.

RentRabbit.com.au co-founder Ben Pretty said it’s encouraging to see that tenants still have some decent options, even if the odds are stacked against them in the current market.

“Darwin’s vacancy rate has fallen considerably over the past two years, which has made it harder for tenants to find accommodation and has led to sharp rental increases,” he said.

“It’s definitely a landlord’s market in many parts of Darwin, and I’ve been hearing some really harrowing stories of tenants doing it hard, especially families on lower incomes.

“The aim of the RentRabbit.com.au Tenant Opportunity Report is to show tenants that although conditions are tough right now, it’s still possible to find somewhere to live that’s affordable, desirable and commutable.”

Top 10 ranking

* ‘Distance to CBD’ is not the average distance of the suburb to the Darwin CBD but the average distance of the suburb’s ‘SA3’ (a technical term the Australian Bureau of Statistics uses to define a cluster of suburbs) to the CBD.

Key stats on the top 10 suburbs

1. The house market of Woodroffe (Palmerston)

2. The house market of Bakewell (Palmerston)

3. The house market of Karama (Darwin Suburbs)

4. The house market of Driver (Palmerston)

5. The house market of Gunn (Palmerston)

6. The house market of Alawa (Darwin Suburbs)

7. The house market of Moil (Darwin Suburbs)

8. The house market of Leanyer (Darwin Suburbs)

9. The house market of Humpty Doo (Litchfield)

10. The house market of Virginia (Litchfield)