Housing stress and marginals: everyone's under the pump

Housing affordability is one of the key national talking points ahead of the federal election, but how important will it be on election day? Who holds the electorates that are experiencing the most severe housing stress, and who stands to gain the most from talking up a solution?

Housing affordability is one of the key national talking points ahead of the federal election, but how important will it be on election day? Who holds the electorates which are experiencing the most severe housing stress, and who stands to gain the most from talking up a solution?

The answer is that housing stress is all things to all people, and stands to either hurt or benefit both major parties. The following table shows the nation’s marginal electorates and their relative levels of housing stress. Of the 47 electorates listed below, there are 23 currently in Coalition hands, and 23 with the ALP. One resides with the Country Liberal Party.

To put the following figures into context, 16.3% of Australian households are experiencing housing stress*.

	Electorate	HHlds	HousSt %	HousSt #	Party	Vote
1	Hindmarsh	56602	13.0	6894	ALP	50.06
2	Kingston	52337	15.6	7498	LP	50.07
3	Swan	51847	16.2	7715	ALP	50.08
4	Richmond	48542	22.0	9846	ALP	50.19
5	Bonner	46953	14.6	6329	LP	50.51
6	Greenway	42614	23.0	8844	LP	50.58
7	Wakefield	52290	15.0	7235	LP	50.67
8	Parramatta	50305	18.4	8591	ALP	50.77
9	Cowan	45624	15.9	6503	ALP	50.78
10	Makin	48932	12.6	5673	LP	50.93
11	Bendigo	50343	14.2	6622	ALP	50.96
12	Banks	44699	17.7	7349	ALP	51.06
13	Calare	47098	11.3	4901	LP	51.10
14	Braddon	36854	10.5	3581	LP	51.13
15	Adelaide	57044	15.3	8066	ALP	51.33
16	Isaacs	51063	18.1	8459	ALP	51.48
17	Holt	51481	22.2	10261	ALP	51.51
18	Hasluck	44331	14.9	5940	LP	51.82
19	Stirling	51748	15.5	7364	LP	52.04
20	Eden-Monaro	47660	13.9	6113	LP	52.14
21	Ballarat	47696	14.4	6319	ALP	52.23
22	Bass	36424	13.3	4508	LP	52.63
23	Chisholm	47742	15.5	6832	ALP	52.65
24	Solomon	30674	13.6	3721	CLP	52.81
25	Rankin	48226	18.7	8157	ALP	53.23
26	Lowe	46379	20.0	8610	ALP	53.30
27	Bruce	45093	15.8	6553	ALP	53.48
28	Lyons	34871	11.2	3602	ALP	53.68
29	Melbourne Ports	59987	19.0	10423	ALP	53.74
30	Brisbane	51864	17.1	8144	ALP	53.9
31	Moreton	46527	16.7	7094	LP	54.17
32	Page	50439	17.3	8084	NP	54.23
33	Bennelong	50177	18.2	8447	LP	54.33
34	Jagajaga	46125	12.2	5201	ALP	54.4
35	Brand	49373	16.8	7376	ALP	54.64
36	Hinkler	47147	16.7	7284	NP	54.81
37	Deakin	46485	13.7	5934	LP	54.97
38	McMillan	43813	13.7	5519	LP	54.99
39	Capricornia	48022	11.4	4913	ALP	55.14
40	Lindsay	46440	21.1	8952	LP	55.26
41	Lilley	51878	16.2	7776	ALP	55.27
42	Corangamite	47040	13.5	5811	LP	55.32
43	Boothby	50786	11.5	5417	LP	55.37
44	Wentworth	58877	22.5	12039	LP	55.48
45	Corio	47984	14.4	6375	ALP	55.64
46	La Trobe	45571	16.8	6941	LP	55.83
47	Dobell	46833	20.9	8948	LP	55.9