"Now is not the time to announce new anti-investor policies"
The Real Estate Buyers Agents Association of Australia (REBAA) has criticised recent rental reforms and increased property taxes, asserting that state governments are failing to address the root causes of the rental crisis.
REBAA vice president Zoran Solano (pictured) has condemned the measures introduced by Queensland, New South Wales, and Victoria, arguing they worsen the already critical shortage of rental properties.
In Queensland, the government has introduced the second stage of its rental reforms, which include limiting rent increases at a time when mortgage repayments are skyrocketing. Solano pointed out that these changes are retrospective and impose minimum housing standards, which place a significant financial burden on many investors.
“Investors are committed to providing safe and habitable dwellings,” he said. “But the cost of these new requirements is another financial outlay that some investors are struggling to afford.”
New South Wales has frozen its land tax threshold, which could cost investors billions, and proposed removing no-grounds evictions. In Victoria, the government has lowered the land tax threshold, increasing property taxes for hundreds of thousands of investors.
Nationally, the vacancy rate has been around 1% for over two years, an unprecedented and persistent issue. Solano said in a statement that restrictive rental reforms and higher taxes are discouraging investment at a time when rental markets are severely undersupplied.
“State governments continue to believe it’s a sound idea to push ahead with restrictive rental reforms and higher property investor taxes at a time when rental markets are severely undersupplied,” he said.
Solano urged state governments to reconsider their policies. “State governments have relied on investors to provide the majority of rental housing for more than two decades now,” he said. He noted that many investors are selling their properties due to the financial pressures of meeting new requirements and high mortgage repayments. This trend began during the pandemic and has reduced the availability of rental properties.
“After the pandemic, though, many decided to exit the market so there are simply not enough rental dwellings available for tenants to lease,” he said. “Now, we have a much higher interest rate environment as well, which has prompted many investors to sell up because they can’t afford the negative cash flow.”
He stressed that unless interest rates decrease significantly or governments adopt a more supportive stance toward investors, the rental crisis will persist. “Now is not the time to announce new anti-investor policies or higher property taxes,” Solano said.
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