Melbourne is increasingly becoming a city of renters, with the number of tenants ballooning over the past five years.

A Fairfax Media analysis of census data released this week shows many of the outer suburbs are seeing the biggest rises in renting households.

The City of Maribyrnong — including Yarraville, Footscray and Braybrook — recorded the biggest jump in the proportion of rental properties over the past five years.

The share of tenants soared 4.8 per cent to 44.4 per cent from 2011 to 2016, almost double the 2.8 per cent increase across Greater Melbourne.

The data largely includes properties rented through real estate agents, but also via public housing and housing co-operatives.

Once-affordable council areas including Whittlesea, Moreland, Hume and Darebin are also feeling the crunch, having experienced consecutive years of price and population growth.

The proportion of affordable rentals also continue to fall as rent hikes outpace incomes growth.

Over the past decade, Victoria’s median weekly rent has increased 75.7 per cent while the median household income grew just 38.8 per cent.

Tenants Union of Victoria spokeswoman Devon LaSalle said that as rents became increasingly unaffordable, people were forced to move further from the city.

Urban sprawl came with new infrastructure and affordable housing developments in the outer reaches of the metropolitan area, including Wollert and Mernda, Ms Lasalle said.

/**/ /**/

“Where you find more demand and affordable housing, you’re also going to find more investors taking advantage of that opportunity, and then driving up the house prices,” she said.

The median mortgage repayments in the Whittlesea council climbed 38.3 per cent over the past decade, Ms Lasalle added, so more people had to rent, even in the outer areas.

Amid a major review of the state’s tenancy laws, the Tenants Union wants more support from local councils for its Make Renting Fair campaign, advocating for improved safety and stability of tenure and privacy for tenants.

The Yarra, Greater Dandenong and Darebin councils have signed up, and several councils are in talks.

Darebin mayor Kim Le Cerf said Australia lagged behind other countries in terms of protecting tenants and ensuring they had adequate rights. Renters feared making quite reasonable maintenance requests, she said, because they feared eviction.

Cr Le Cerf said vulnerable tenants were most affected by rising rents, and it was important to make sure people could continue to live in the area.

Michael Perusco, chief executive of Unison Housing (formerly Yarra Community Housing), said it was not necessarily a bad thing having more renters in an area.

“But what we’re finding in Maribyrnong, in particular, is that it’s getting harder to find affordable housing for people on low incomes,” he said. “It’s a general indication of the gentrification of the area, which was traditionally considered more affordable.”

Demographer Glenn Capuano of .id said he suspected the Maribyrnong council had a big growth in people aged between about 18 and 30 because younger people were more likely to rent.

The Melbourne, Yarra and Port Phillip councils had the highest proportion of renters because the inner-city areas were where people went for employment and education, he said.

Leanne Jopson, of Village Real Estate, said improved community facilities and infrastructure such as Footscray train station had made the area more attractive.

The standard of housing had also increased over the past decade, she said, with significant redevelopment and renovations in the area.

“I think 10 years ago [the inner west] may not have had the best reputation, it was kind of a poor sister,” she said. “Five years ago, people realised it was a bit of a hidden gem, and now it’s case of ‘we want to live here’.”

With Kirsten Robb