Rents jump by 58 percent in Box Hill as city struggles to meet affordable housing targets

There will be more than 2,000 residents requiring low-income accommodation support by 2041.

Matthew Sims
May 05, 2026

There are currently no construction cranes operating in Box Hill, with Whitehorse mayor Kirsten Langford arguing high development costs are deterring builders and investors away.

With a gap of more than 2,000 affordable housing opportunities needed to arrive by 2041 to address high levels of rental stress, is enough being built to meet demand?

📈 Housing goals: According to the SRL East Draft Structure Plan for Box Hill, there will be 2,340 local residents who will need social and affordable housing by 2041.

In 2021, there were 150 social and affordable housing dwellings in Box Hill, highlighting a gap of 2,190 – or 37 percent of the total net additional dwellings required by 2041.

After three years with no buyers, this Box Hill luxury apartment may need to slash its $4 million price tag

A sky-high penthouse in Box Hill is up for sale for more than eight times the current median price for units in the suburb.

🏘️ What is affordable housing? Affordable housing is a type of rental available for Australians who don’t meet the requirements for social housing, but are still struggling to pay their rent on a low-income.

For a property to be considered affordable housing, rents must be set at least 10 percent below the area’s median market rent and must not increase by more than five percent per year.

🎢 A rollercoaster market: Rents for units and apartments in Box Hill have jumped by $220 over the past four years – from a median rental price of $380 a week in the May 2021 to April 2022 period to $600 over the May 2025 to April 2026 period. That’s an increase of about 57.9 percent.

✅ Steps forward: Some recent developments have delivered affordable housing in Box Hill, including the two 17-storey SKY SQR towers, with 37 of the 425 build-to-rent apartments dedicated to social, affordable, and specialist disability housing.

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From being the town's postmaster to the builder behind the suburb's iconic old pubs, Silas Padgham was a true pioneer of Box Hill.

🏗️ Under pressure: Whitehorse mayor Kirsten Langford said high development costs due to an increase in land prices and extra government policies had meant the council had seen a "significant reduction” in applications for residential developments.

🗣️ “Today, there are no cranes in Box Hill,” Langford told the Eastern Melburnian. “Less applications means less development and less opportunity for affordable housing.”

⏭️ What’s next? Langford said the council was advocating for the State Government to consider introducing a blanket mandatory requirement for developers to include affordable housing.