Qld govt rental reform 'dangerous' for investor borrowers: REIQ

The Real Estate Institute of Queensland (REIQ) has deemed the Queensland government’s new reform to treat rent control separately to stage two rental reforms without the “transparent legislative process that is reasonably expected” as “questionable and concerning”.

REIQ chief executive Antonia Mercorella labelled the government’s decision as “absurd” and further questioned the legality of the nature of the new laws.

“As a property investor, you may have negotiated a rent increase that you have banked on and budgeted for and now this has been stripped away,” Ms Mercorella said.

“It’s one thing to introduce rent control from a certain date onwards, but it’s a whole other proposition to retrospectively create laws that override previously agreed contractual arrangements.”

The REIQ has cautioned the Palaszczuk government against “being heavy-handed” as the second stage of rental law reforms opens for public consultation.

Ms Mercorella stated the government’s approach was “dangerous” as it fails to recognise that private investors are a group that is heavily relied on to provide the vast majority of housing for 1.5 million Queensland renters.

“Our state has always had a higher rental population than the rest of the country and so maintaining adequate levels of property investment is vital to housing Queenslanders,” she said.

“As these investors decide to call it a day and either sell or withdraw their properties from our state’s rental pool, the rental crisis here will only get worse.”

Indeed, this could have further harmful implications for investor borrowers who have seen mortgage repayments increase as a result of the Reserve Bank of Australia's 10 consecutive rate hikes over the last 12 months. 

The Queensland government passed the new legalisation that amended the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008, through the Local Government Elect oral and Other Legislation (Expenditure Caps) Amendment Bill 2022.

The amendments will limit the number of times a landlord can raise rent from every six months to once a year for residential tenancies and rooming accommodation agreements, with the annual limit applying to all new and existing tenancies as of 1 July 2023 and onwards.

Ms Mercorella added that contextually, this reform follows repetitious and far-reaching rental reform.

“This is not rental reform in isolation, it’s a steady stream of legislative changes — a death by a thousand cuts — that could kill off investment in Queensland,” she warned.

“We’ve already been through COVID-19 eviction moratoriums, and a raft of extensive stage one rental reforms that were centred around strengthening tenant’s rights.”

However, according to Queensland Deputy Premier Steven Miles, the reform is intended to support renters by taking immediate action to “protect Queensland renters from landlords who aren’t operating fairly”.

Housing Minister Leeanne Enoch echoed the Deputy Premier’s sentiment: “With more than one-third of Queensland households renting, it’s vital that renters get a fair go.

“As we seek to modernise Queensland’s tenancy laws, we are determined to strike a fair balance which protects the interests of both renters and rental property owners.”

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