More than four in five rental providers are likely to pack their bags and leave the market due to the proposed tenancy law changes in Queensland.
This was the finding of the latest survey conducted by the Real Estate Institute of Queensland (REIQ), which also found that while 62% of respondents said they have considered selling their rental property in the past two years, 27% said the primary reason for doing so was on account of rental law reforms.
Overall, the respondents of the survey “passionately” opposed the changes being proposed as part of the Queensland Government’s Stage Two rental reforms.
REIQ CEO Antonia Mercorella said there is an “overwhelming” response from rental providers, who said they might walk away from property investment due to yet another round of rental law reforms.
“Further withdrawal of properties from the rental pool amid the critical rental crisis in Queensland will have dire consequences on the market in both the short and long term,” she said.
“This wholesale reform of the rental market is in direct contradiction with what all stakeholders seem to be in furious agreement about – the need to boost rental supply.”
What reforms do investors find unfair?
According to the REIQ survey, around 98.6% of rental providers are “vehemently” against tenants making any property modifications without their consent.
For many of these rental providers, they cited various concerns regarding property value, safety regulations, unqualified works, costs to rectify or fix damages, and insurance implications.
The current law allows tenants and owners to agree to any changes that can be made to the property and whether these changes need to be removed when tenancy ends.
The Stage Two Rental Law Reform will explore options to make it easier for tenants to install safety, security, and accessibility measures to help them live safe and ordinary lives in their rental homes.
Further, it will allow rental property owners to influence the changes a renter can make to their rental property to minimise their investment risks.
Meanwhile, more than half were against allowing minor personalisation changes to rental properties without consent, given the lack of definition of “minor”.
For example, 79.8% of investors said the do not consider painting walls of the rental property to be minor in nature.
The rental reforms, however, are setting out options to provide a framework, that would allow owners and renters to negotiate modifications that would make the property feel like home for the latter.
Similar to the other concern, another option is to allow rental property owners to influence the changes a renter can make to their rental property to minimise their investment risks.
Still, other concerns still surround minor personalisation changes related to the risk of costly damages and repairs, which falls back onto property owners to rectify.
In fact, 75.6% said that the current rent they charge does not cover all their outgoings to hold the property.
Ms Mercorella said REIQ is calls on the government to start showing greater respect for the contribution that property investors make to the economy and housing sector.
“The REIQ is concerned with ongoing and consistent rental law reforms in Queensland which are progressively eroding property investor rights along with their confidence,” she said.
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Photo by liza5450 on Canva.
