It’s happening. The Queensland Premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, is going to war with our real estate agencies. Palaszczuk has announced that she’s pushing for Queensland to have rent limits.
At the moment, Queensland landlords can raise the price of their property every six months. However, this has put a strain on the Aussie fams struggling to survive the ongoing cost of living crisis, the energy crisis, and the other crises that pop up in everyday life.
Palaszczuk doesn’t believe this is right. She wants rental increases to only happen once every year.
On March 28, Palaszczuk wrote, “Today, we’re taking action to give people who are renting a fairer go. Weekly rents are rapidly increasing, sometimes going up $200 or even $400. It’s not right.”
“That’s why we’re proposing to limit rent increases to once a year, rather than every six months.”
Now, some Queensland real estate agencies and landlord stans will probably kick up a stink regarding this proposal. In fact, some have already claimed that this rule will make investors flee the state. However, you can only raise the rent of a NSW property every 12 months, and this state has more investors than you can shake a stick at.
Now, this isn’t to say that Queensland’s rent limits can’t be critiqued. For instance, the CEO of Queensland Tenants, Penny Carr, doesn’t believe that this proposal is perfect.
“This is a really good thing to see,” said Carr, “but it’s not enough during these times.”
So, what does Carr want? Well, Carr wants Australia’s Consumer Price Index to influence the price of our rentals. This would mean that our landlords couldn’t jack up rent prices faster than inflation. If the price of our goods and services are higher than normal, then say goodbye to those $400 per week increases.
Carr reckons that this proposal would “maintain returns for landlords and provide stable and predictable increases for tenants.”
However, considering the pushback Palaszczuk’s already getting, it would be a surprise if she proposed a policy that is this brave and bold. But here’s hoping anyways.
Related: Why Renting in Australia Is Just the Pits in 2023
Related: Australian Country Towns Are Suffering a Housing Crisis
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