RENTAL providers are passionately opposed to several changes being proposed as part of the State Government’s stage two rental law reforms Options Paper, according to a survey of more than 3,300 Queensland property investors.
The survey, conducted by the Real Estate Institute of Queensland (REIQ), sought property investor sentiment towards some of the ‘hot button’ changes proposed in the paper.
One of the most foreboding findings from the survey, was that 81.4 per cent of rental providers said recent and future proposed tenancy law changes have influenced the likelihood that they will sell up.
While 62 per cent of respondents said they’ve considered selling their rental property in the past two years, 27 per cent said the primary reason for doing so was on account of rental law reforms – the number one standalone factor.
REIQ CEO Antonia Mercorella said the state peak body had received an overwhelming and passionate response from Queensland rental providers, who may walk away from property investment due to yet another round of rental law reforms.
“The REIQ is concerned with ongoing and consistent rental law reforms in Queensland which are progressively eroding property investor rights along with their confidence,” Ms Mercorella said.
“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.
“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.”
More specifically, the survey revealed an overwhelming 98.6 per cent of rental providers were vehemently opposed to tenants making any property modifications without their consent – citing various concerns regarding property value, safety regulations, unqualified works, costs to rectify or fix damages, and insurance implications.
Further, if rental providers could only refuse a property minor modification by going through QCAT, 83.7 per cent said it would impact their decision to keep the property.
More than half (64.5%) were opposed to minor personalisation changes to rental properties without the owner’s consent and were apprehensive about the lack of definition of ‘minor’.
By way of example, 79.8 per cent of the survey respondents did not consider painting walls of the rental property to be minor in nature. Other concerns surrounding minor personalisation changes related to the risk of costly damages and repairs falling back onto property owners to rectify. The survey revealing that 75.6 per cent said that the current rent they charge did not cover all their outgoings to hold the property.
