Few affordable rentals in Vic

Just over one per cent of rental properties in metropolitan Melbourne are affordable to people on welfare, a new report shows.

Anglicare's Rental Affordability Snapshot shows that on a weekend in April 2015 only 182 out of almost 15,000 properties available for rent would not put those on welfare in financial stress.

It was moderately better for people living on the minimum wage with about 25 per cent of rental properties being rated as affordable.

The least affordable cities were Casey, Port Phillip and Whittlesea, which had just one property each that would be affordable to people on welfare.

It was moderately better in Victorian rural areas with around 12 per cent of available rentals being affordable for welfare recipients.

The report shows that those living on welfare were essentially priced out of the private rental market and were vulnerable to financial stress and potential homelessness.

The vast majority of affordable housing in metropolitan Melbourne was in the outer fringes, typically associated with poorer access to public transport, employment and education.