In Canberra, January brings thousands of public servants, military personnel and academics to the capital to start new jobs.

Key points: The median rent for a house in Canberra is higher than in any other capital, while the ACT's unit rents are second only to Sydney's

The median rent for a house in Canberra is higher than in any other capital, while the ACT's unit rents are second only to Sydney's ACT rents are now rising three times as quickly as the national average

ACT rents are now rising three times as quickly as the national average Demand soars in January and February, when new public servants, academics and students arrive in the capital

They'll soon be joined by even more students, enrolling at the city's universities.

And they all need a place to live.

Summer is the season of the property Hunger Games in Canberra, a relatively small city with a transient workforce.

It's an extremely hard time to find housing — would-be tenants often compete with more than 50 other applicants for a unit lease.

But this year's property battles may be the toughest yet.

Canberra is now the most expensive capital city in Australia in which to rent a house, according to property group Domain's latest analysis.

And after Sydney, it's the second-most expensive place to rent a unit.

Surge after the slump

Not too long ago, Canberra was a great place for tenants.

After Tony Abbott became prime minister in 2013, the federal bureaucracy shed more than 6,000 ACT-based jobs over two years.

The job losses coincided with a glut of new apartments and rental prices plunged.

Dipping decade Canberra rents plunged after the 2013 federal election but are rebounding quickly:

But CoreLogic's head of research, Tim Lawless, said the ACT market has behaved very differently to the rest of the country over the past five years.

"We've been seeing rents rising at about 3 per cent per annum," he said.

"The national average over the same time frame has been only 1 per cent per annum — a little bit less than wages growth."

So while renting has become slightly cheaper for most Australians, it's become significantly more expensive for Canberrans.

And it's far worse in some areas — particularly the inner north, which was once favoured by students.

"In some of the most popular suburbs, rents have gone up over the past five years, on average, by more than 5 or 6 per cent per annum," Mr Lawless said.

The most-affected suburbs for unit dwellers are Aranda, Campbell and Downer — annual rent increases have averaged about 8 per cent over the past five years.

For houses, rents raced upwards across the entire inner north by between 5 and 7 per cent a year.

Why Canberra?

Despite heavy public service job losses, the ACT economy is actually booming — at least relative to other parts of the country.

That, along with the city's high incomes, is the main reason the city is now experiencing a rental squeeze.

"Population growth into the ACT has been very strong … from both interstate and overseas migration," Mr Lawless said.

"And we have seen Canberra batting above its average in terms of jobs growth … over the past five years as well."

But the benefits — or costs, if you're a tenant — are not spread across the city evenly.

Mr Lawless said many factors affected why some areas attracted renters and other did not.

"You can see with the light-rail development across Canberra, for example, the areas that have benefited from improved transport infrastructure," he said.

"It could be schools, better shopping facilities, healthcare — that sort of thing."

The rental Hunger Games

Then-architecture student William Woodbridge's temporary home on Lake Ginninderra in 2012. ( Priya Bethke )

This year's hunt may be the most brutal yet, but summer rental battles have long been part of Canberra life.

Eight years ago, amid a lack of affordable housing on campus, University of Canberra architecture student William Woodbridge gave up.

Instead, he built a teepee, put it on a raft and began living in the middle of Lake Ginninderra.

This month, two other postgraduate students, who asked not to be named, told the ABC they had resorted to living in a campervan.

"Renting is just too bloody hard," one said.

PhD student James Beattie is in a race to find a home before his current lease expires.

He inspected 50 properties over the past fortnight and applied for 25. So far, he's received 20 rejections and is waiting on the others.

"It's very disappointing, it's very disheartening — you just lose energy," he said.

"I couldn't even get into student accommodation — it's really competitive and has the same problems."

Property inspections are especially popular over summer in the ACT. ( ABC News: Michael Black )

How to win

Simon and Rebecca Humphrys, originally from Adelaide, found Canberra's summer property scavenge so frustrating they opened a business catering to stranded tenants.

The family decided to move to the ACT towards the end of 2018, but Dr Humphrys was shocked by how hard it was to find a home.

"I only had a bike here — I didn't have a car — so getting to a rental viewing and then getting back to work, while I'm working full-time, was really difficult," he said.

"And if you don't get to a rental viewing, you can't put in an application for the property."

Rental advocates Simon and Rebecca Humphrys struggled to find a property. ( ABC News: Ian Cutmore )

The pair now inspect housing on behalf of people who find themselves in the same position: struggling to apply for enough properties to be successful.

Ms Humphrys said property managers generally ruled out potential tenants if the rent was more than 30 per cent of their income.

But she offered other tips.

"So once you send your application, follow up with a phone call and an email so they're aware how keen you are," she said.

And while Canberra tenants gained stronger rights just three months ago, Ms Humphrys said owning a pet would make the search far harder.

"If you've got a pet, they can still basically say no … But if you get a pet afterwards, there's not a lot they can do about it," she said.



Or hold out until autumn, when the battles become just a little bit easier.