Should taxpayers subsidise welfare recipients seeking inner city rentals?

A proposal has been put forward to provide additional rent assistance for welfare recipients in inner city suburbs to help deal with rising costs.

Welfare renters could see their assistance increased by more than 15 per cent in a bid to get more people out of social housing and in to the private market.

However, experts warn paying welfare recipients more money will discourage them when looking for work.

Chris Smith from Radio 2GB and 4BC told Sunrise "we shouldn't be meddling in this market", warning the proposal may put upward pressure on rental markets.

"I think it's a massive disinscentive when trying to get people to start work or life in a career or get back to work," he said.

"And on top of all that, right now we seem to be re-engineering market forces in the property sector - the government yesterday lifted stamp duty and a raft of fees.

"I wonder if that doesn't reheat the already active price war at the moment - a 15 per cent increase on the rental market [for welfare recipients] will do the same thing when you start meddling.

"We need to be careful of the forces of supply and demand - when you start medaling things can bite you in the you know where."

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'Any little bit helps': Susie O'Brien

Susie O'Brien from the Herald Sun said she believes it's necessary as "that's where the jobs and schools are".

"Don't forget, some of the renters are single mums with kids," she said.

"To give people on welfare a little bit more money to be independent and join the private rental market, even 15 per cent, will only be around $30 or $40 a week," she said.

"This whole debate over handing over money so they can live in 'trendy' inner city suburbs, that's where the jobs are, the schools."

Mr Smith said: "but others in western Sydney travel up to an hour and a half, so why can't they?"

"But you might want to be in the suburb that has all the ammentities and extra money will help," Ms O'Brien said.