Uni student Huw Morrisson is facing a three-way financial crunch after his landlord announced the rent for his share house would increase in coming weeks.
He can't decide whether he should replace his severely damaged tyres, go to the dentist or pay his rent on time.
"I definitely didn't expect to have to choose [between] things that are so important," Mr Morrisson said.
"I didn't picture this being a problem when I was growing up, but yeah, I guess that's reality, right?"
He is not the only one having to cope with this new reality.
A report released today by Christian charity Anglicare surveyed nearly 3,000 properties advertised in Brisbane over a weekend in March.
It carried dire news for people receiving income support payments like Mr Morrisson.
It found the median renter in the city is now paying $150 more compared to the same time last year, jumping from $500 to $650.
Out of the properties surveyed, only 0.3 per cent were affordable and appropriate for someone on income support, while that number is 2.3 per cent for people on minimum wage.
Mr Morrisson said despite "loving" his place, he wanted to move due to the rent increase.
But his prospects look bleak.
"I've been looking online at places that are so almost identical to this place being $100, if not more expensive, than this one," he said.
"The offer to live with my parents has always been standing, but it's becoming more hard to be independent, I guess because of the cost of living right now … I definitely have no problem living with my parents but I can't live with them forever."
'Catastrophic' rental market
The "Rental Affordability Snapshot" conducted similar surveys around Australia.
Anglicare CEO Sue Cooke described the situation as "catastrophic" and said Queensland was among the most affected places in the country.
"We've been doing this since 2010 and this is the worst that we have seen throughout that time … it's quite despairing," she said.
"One of the things we're definitely seeing for Brisbane which is unlike the rest of Australia is that it has seen an increase in homeless by about eight per cent … Queensland has seen an increase of 22 per cent.
"We're now definitely seeing a lot more … including young children and families and it's just a demographic that is changing, so this can impact anybody, I think most of us might know someone who's being impacted by the rental issue.
"The availability of housing supply is definitely a bigger issue and a compounding issue here in Brisbane."
Housing shortfall meets low payments
Mr Morrisson said his situation weighs on his mind.
"Not all the time, but sometimes I'll just be thinking about buying something or, you know, just going grocery shopping all of a sudden my head goes up – 'Don't forget rent,'" he said.
"You would think that as like a first world country, this would be behind us … I definitely feel like this shouldn't happen anywhere and so I definitely think it shouldn't happen here."
Ms Cooke said the current housing situation in Australia is "absolutely not acceptable" and government action is urgently needed.
"There is a shortfall across the country, around 650,000 houses. So that's a significant increase that we require just in housing supply, we need more funding to flow through so people can afford cost of living," she said.
"We certainly need an uplift in some of the income supports so job seeker and other supports that are available.
"There are some initiatives that both the Commonwealth and the state government are doing from the housing affordability and the housing supply perspective … We just need more, and we need it done quickly."
She encouraged those struggling with housing to reach out.
"We hold hope for those that are in a situation where they feel they can't hold hope for themselves and we would say, there are many of us in the NGO, not for profit, charitable space, who are here to help them," she said.
