WEBVTT - Tenants afraid to report home issues as the rental crisis worsens

0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:04.240
<v Speaker 1>This is a story about renters and a rent affordability.

0:00:04.280 --> 0:00:06.880
<v Speaker 1>You may recall here in wa during COVID that the

0:00:06.920 --> 0:00:09.560
<v Speaker 1>government did tough in rules on landlords to make it

0:00:09.600 --> 0:00:12.640
<v Speaker 1>harder to evict people during the COVID lockdowns and the

0:00:12.680 --> 0:00:16.560
<v Speaker 1>COVID situation. But since that time we have had a

0:00:16.600 --> 0:00:19.799
<v Speaker 1>shortage of rental accommodation. Here in Perth, you hear stories

0:00:19.840 --> 0:00:22.439
<v Speaker 1>of you know, hundreds of people turning up at home

0:00:22.480 --> 0:00:25.160
<v Speaker 1>opens to look at places. And now there's a report

0:00:25.239 --> 0:00:28.200
<v Speaker 1>that maybe people are too worried about asking for repairs

0:00:28.240 --> 0:00:31.560
<v Speaker 1>for fear they make copper rent increase or even get

0:00:31.600 --> 0:00:35.680
<v Speaker 1>kicked out as seen as vexatious by the landlords. Joining

0:00:35.720 --> 0:00:39.920
<v Speaker 1>me now is Cassandra Goldie AO, the ACOS CEO joins me. Now,

0:00:40.000 --> 0:00:41.919
<v Speaker 1>hey Cassandra, how are you can?

0:00:41.960 --> 0:00:43.279
<v Speaker 2>I well? Thanks? How are you?

0:00:43.400 --> 0:00:45.280
<v Speaker 1>Yeah? Well, thank you? This is worrying, isn't. This is

0:00:45.320 --> 0:00:48.040
<v Speaker 1>an Australia wide survey. There's a couple of things in this,

0:00:48.120 --> 0:00:50.440
<v Speaker 1>but this notion of not asking for your place to

0:00:50.440 --> 0:00:51.440
<v Speaker 1>be repaired is a worry.

0:00:52.560 --> 0:00:54.680
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, look it is and it doesn't. Nobody wins when

0:00:54.720 --> 0:00:57.560
<v Speaker 2>that's the reality for people. But we have to understand

0:00:57.560 --> 0:01:00.880
<v Speaker 2>why I mean the survey, which is a national survey

0:01:00.960 --> 0:01:03.920
<v Speaker 2>done by the University of New South Wales, found that,

0:01:04.120 --> 0:01:07.040
<v Speaker 2>you know, seven out of ten people reported being scared

0:01:07.040 --> 0:01:10.240
<v Speaker 2>to report repairs that were needed on the property because

0:01:10.240 --> 0:01:14.080
<v Speaker 2>they were worried about another rent increase when they couldn't

0:01:14.080 --> 0:01:16.959
<v Speaker 2>afford it, or because they're on a for example, a

0:01:16.959 --> 0:01:21.480
<v Speaker 2>fixed term tendency, or worried that they might be evicted

0:01:21.840 --> 0:01:24.440
<v Speaker 2>that they at least may not be extended. And so

0:01:24.880 --> 0:01:27.720
<v Speaker 2>this is the reality for people. They know that they

0:01:27.720 --> 0:01:29.880
<v Speaker 2>don't have a lot of marketing power, that's the sense

0:01:29.920 --> 0:01:33.280
<v Speaker 2>they have. And if they can't stand that property law,

0:01:33.319 --> 0:01:35.760
<v Speaker 2>then where do they go. As you say, vacancye rates

0:01:35.800 --> 0:01:37.600
<v Speaker 2>are at an all time low at just one percent,

0:01:38.000 --> 0:01:40.400
<v Speaker 2>and there are long queues everywhere you go to try

0:01:40.400 --> 0:01:43.200
<v Speaker 2>and get another rental property. And so people you know,

0:01:43.560 --> 0:01:46.679
<v Speaker 2>are not speaking up and nobody wins out of that.

0:01:46.680 --> 0:01:48.600
<v Speaker 2>It's not good for the landlords either if they don't

0:01:48.640 --> 0:01:50.680
<v Speaker 2>know that there are important repairs that need to be

0:01:50.680 --> 0:01:51.480
<v Speaker 2>done in their property.

0:01:51.600 --> 0:01:53.680
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, for sure. And one of the other concerning things

0:01:53.720 --> 0:01:57.000
<v Speaker 1>in your report is people, i mean property managers talk

0:01:57.040 --> 0:01:59.680
<v Speaker 1>to each other worried about being blacklisted.

0:02:01.200 --> 0:02:04.160
<v Speaker 2>Well, look this is a real fear for people because

0:02:04.800 --> 0:02:08.640
<v Speaker 2>for many people, renting is the only option that you

0:02:08.760 --> 0:02:11.360
<v Speaker 2>have to have a place to call home. One in

0:02:11.400 --> 0:02:13.920
<v Speaker 2>three people in Australia now are renting, and we know

0:02:14.000 --> 0:02:16.320
<v Speaker 2>that that's only going to increase further. I mean many

0:02:16.320 --> 0:02:19.320
<v Speaker 2>other countries, renting is seen as a decent, long term

0:02:19.440 --> 0:02:23.880
<v Speaker 2>solution to having a home, but Australia is unusual in

0:02:23.919 --> 0:02:27.720
<v Speaker 2>this way. We have most properties that are put out

0:02:27.720 --> 0:02:31.120
<v Speaker 2>on the rental market are flipped in overy five years

0:02:31.120 --> 0:02:35.840
<v Speaker 2>on average. The tax rules associated with property investment encourage

0:02:35.919 --> 0:02:39.080
<v Speaker 2>that kind of property investment because you're chasing the capital growth.

0:02:39.560 --> 0:02:42.000
<v Speaker 2>We know that got that capital gains discount, and so

0:02:42.160 --> 0:02:45.959
<v Speaker 2>most leases are very short term. They're typically twelve months.

0:02:46.160 --> 0:02:48.959
<v Speaker 2>Our survey found over eighty percent of people in six

0:02:49.120 --> 0:02:53.120
<v Speaker 2>term leases, and so they really feel insecure in this situation.

0:02:54.240 --> 0:02:58.079
<v Speaker 2>And the thoughts of repairs that were apported we're pretty serious.

0:02:58.120 --> 0:03:01.400
<v Speaker 2>I mean one in three reported pest trial problems, one

0:03:01.440 --> 0:03:04.720
<v Speaker 2>in four reported leaks or flooding in their property, and

0:03:04.760 --> 0:03:07.280
<v Speaker 2>one in five talked about hot water supply of being

0:03:07.320 --> 0:03:09.960
<v Speaker 2>an issue. And so these are real basics here, aren't they.

0:03:10.600 --> 0:03:13.000
<v Speaker 2>And as they say that, you know the person that

0:03:13.080 --> 0:03:15.000
<v Speaker 2>owns the property. They don't win out of that either.

0:03:15.400 --> 0:03:17.560
<v Speaker 2>Because of course, some of those kinds of repairs, if

0:03:17.560 --> 0:03:19.880
<v Speaker 2>you don't get on top of them quickly, it can

0:03:19.960 --> 0:03:21.799
<v Speaker 2>lead to longer term structural problems.

0:03:22.080 --> 0:03:24.680
<v Speaker 1>And some of the other facts you found that nearly

0:03:24.720 --> 0:03:26.720
<v Speaker 1>three quarters of people had to rendecrease in the past

0:03:26.720 --> 0:03:29.600
<v Speaker 1>twelve months, and around about a third of renters would

0:03:30.200 --> 0:03:32.840
<v Speaker 1>ride at the limit. There aren't they, Cassandra, They couldn't

0:03:32.880 --> 0:03:35.840
<v Speaker 1>afford to go another five percent higher, they would that

0:03:35.840 --> 0:03:36.840
<v Speaker 1>would really impact on.

0:03:36.800 --> 0:03:40.360
<v Speaker 2>Them, You'll tip them over. I mean, this is the reality,

0:03:40.440 --> 0:03:42.480
<v Speaker 2>you know that town. For most people on low and

0:03:42.560 --> 0:03:45.440
<v Speaker 2>modest incomes at your biggest expense is keeping a roof

0:03:45.480 --> 0:03:49.720
<v Speaker 2>over your head, followed by your energy bill. And for

0:03:49.840 --> 0:03:52.800
<v Speaker 2>many people, particularly people on really low incomes like social

0:03:52.840 --> 0:03:55.640
<v Speaker 2>security job seeker is just fifty six dollars per day,

0:03:56.800 --> 0:03:59.600
<v Speaker 2>that's unbearable. Mostly people can't afford to rent in the

0:03:59.600 --> 0:04:02.360
<v Speaker 2>private So one of our recommendations, of course is to

0:04:02.440 --> 0:04:05.880
<v Speaker 2>continue to boost low income housing like social housing. It's

0:04:06.280 --> 0:04:08.280
<v Speaker 2>you know, we've go only got four percent of or

0:04:08.400 --> 0:04:11.520
<v Speaker 2>housing now in Australia. With social housing, the federal government

0:04:11.560 --> 0:04:13.520
<v Speaker 2>has put a big boost in there, but we need

0:04:13.560 --> 0:04:16.080
<v Speaker 2>to go further with that. But then when it comes

0:04:16.080 --> 0:04:18.080
<v Speaker 2>to the private rental market, which of course is the

0:04:18.080 --> 0:04:21.120
<v Speaker 2>big part of the picture. We want to encourage property

0:04:21.160 --> 0:04:25.200
<v Speaker 2>investors into producing more supply, but it's got to be

0:04:25.240 --> 0:04:28.120
<v Speaker 2>the right kind of property investment where you're really wanting

0:04:28.200 --> 0:04:32.120
<v Speaker 2>long term renters. You know, you're incentivized to have somebody

0:04:32.160 --> 0:04:34.520
<v Speaker 2>in there for five to ten years with a good

0:04:34.600 --> 0:04:37.080
<v Speaker 2>yield on the property, rather than this notion that you're

0:04:37.120 --> 0:04:39.359
<v Speaker 2>in the market to buy and sell, buy and sell

0:04:39.360 --> 0:04:41.000
<v Speaker 2>because you're chasing the capital growth.

0:04:41.240 --> 0:04:44.200
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, all right, we'll see what our listeners think. Cassandra,

0:04:44.279 --> 0:04:46.160
<v Speaker 1>thanks so much for talking to our listeners here in Perth.

0:04:46.200 --> 0:04:46.920
<v Speaker 1>Really appreciated.

0:04:47.680 --> 0:04:48.240
<v Speaker 2>Thanks so much.