The short answer is yes. The longer answer is that most renters are doing it far more slowly than they realise, and there is now a model that changes the speed of that equation entirely.
Building a deposit while renting is possible. It is just structurally harder than most financial advice acknowledges. Here is why, what actually works, and what has changed in 2026.
The fundamental problem is that rent and deposit saving compete for the same income.
A renter on $100,000 gross in Sydney takes home approximately $73,000 after tax. At the current median Sydney unit rent of $780 per week, their annual housing cost is $40,560. After food, transport, utilities, and basic living costs, the amount genuinely available to save toward a deposit is typically $10,000 to $15,000 per year.
A 10% deposit on a $780,000 Sydney apartment is $78,000. At $12,500 per year in savings, that is 6.2 years.
But here is the part most deposit calculators do not account for. While the renter saves over those 6.2 years, they pay approximately $251,000 in rent. Every dollar of that goes to a landlord. None of it builds toward the deposit. And if the property appreciates even modestly during that period, the deposit target has moved.
The maths are not impossible. They are just working against the renter the entire time.
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Genuine savings discipline. Most lenders require evidence of genuine savings, money that has grown consistently over at least three months rather than a lump sum that appeared recently. Building a consistent savings habit is not just a deposit strategy. It is a lending requirement.
High interest savings accounts and term deposits. While savings rates have improved with the rate cycle, the gap between the return on savings and the rate of property price growth in strong markets means deposit savers are typically losing ground rather than gaining it. But maximising the return on existing savings reduces the gap slightly.
Government schemes. The First Home Guarantee allows eligible first home buyers to purchase with a 5% deposit and no lenders mortgage insurance. Halving the deposit target from 10% to 5% significantly compresses the savings timeline. For a $780,000 apartment, the deposit target drops from $78,000 to $39,000, a timeline of approximately three years at $13,000 per year in savings rather than six.
Coposit. Through Coposit, eligible off the plan properties can be secured with an upfront payment from $10,000 and the remaining deposit paid through weekly interest-free instalments during construction. This removes the need to save the full deposit before committing to a purchase. The property price is locked in today. The remaining deposit builds during construction alongside existing rent payments.
Unrent by Coposit. The most direct answer to the deposit-while-renting problem. Under the Unrent by Coposit model, a renter makes an upfront payment, moves into a completed property, and pays rent for approximately one year. That rent accumulates toward the deposit rather than building a landlord's equity. The deposit is being built through the rent itself rather than alongside it.
Unrent by Coposit | A New Home Ownership Pathway for Australian Renters
The deposit-while-renting problem exists because rent and savings compete for the same income. Unrent by Coposit dissolves that competition by making the rent the savings.
For a renter paying $780 per week, the annual rent is $40,560. Under the conventional model, that $40,560 funds a landlord's mortgage. Under Unrent by Coposit, it accumulates toward the renter's own deposit.
The deposit is not being built alongside rent. The deposit is being built through rent.
No options fee on top of market rent. No interest. The weekly housing payment the renter is already committed to making is redirected from someone else's equity toward their own.
Read How Unrent by Coposit Works for a complete breakdown of the mechanics.
For a direct comparison between building a deposit through Coposit's off the plan model and through Unrent by Coposit, read Coposit and Unrent by Coposit: What Is the Difference.
Can you build a deposit while renting? Yes.
Is the conventional model the fastest or most efficient way to do it? No.
The renter who saves $13,000 per year alongside $40,560 in annual rent is building a deposit. But they are simultaneously funding someone else's wealth at more than three times the rate they are building their own.
The models that change that ratio, Coposit's off the plan instalment structure and Unrent by Coposit's rent accumulation model, exist precisely because the conventional answer to this question is technically correct but practically insufficient for a growing share of Australian renters.
Check your eligibility for Unrent by Coposit at unrent.coposit.com.au/eligibility.
For renters who want to explore the off the plan pathway, browse current listings on the Coposit projects page, download the app, or contact the team.
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