WELCOME TO AFFORDABLE RENTALS BRISBANE

YOU ARE INVITED TO BROWSE AS LONG AS YOU LIKE. In this blog we will write articles about the Social Security System and those issues, that affects people that rent, and also those that own properties for rent. We hope that our articles will help them understand the situation better. L S H.

Sunday, September 17, 2023

Housing problems discussions.

WELCOME TO BRISBANE AFFORDABLE RENTALS, YOU ARE INVITED. In this blog, we will discuss rental problems that we may incounter when renting, and the problems of running affordable rentals. We will also discuss, what the government can do to help the renters pay their rent, and the property owners run a better service to the renting community. 
Anyhow, we believe that the government Social Security System, can help both the people that are renting and the property owners. They should give more rent assistance to peple on low income that are renting, and they should abollish or modify the assets test on active rental properties, if they want the rental market stand on its own, so, to speak. For this reason, we are writing several articles, where we will talk about the rental problems and the Social Security System. 



Yes today in Australia is hard to find a house or units for rent. It is hard to understand the reasons why this is happening, so, we are looking for the reasons why this is happening and writing these discussions to explain what we think is happening 

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Welcome to our article, housing problems discussion   

Dear readers, as I have said, I have been writing several articles about this rental crisis in Australia, and I have suggested a few things, but I do not know if what I am doing is helping, because there is no feedback, all I know is some people read them.  

Anyhow, I will continue to write more articles, at least I know I have done my best to help solve the situation, because it is only through people views and discussion that most problems are solved. In this article we will review what we have said and talk about what we see happening.

One of the things that is worrying me is that there are properties that end up in the wrong hands, one of which is foreign ownership. Look what I found in the net, (and I quote).

The daily mail 20 July 2023

How Chinese buyers are snapping up Australian properties at the rate of $6million a day.

Story by Stephen Johnson, Economics Reporter For Daily Mail Australia • Yesterday 1:49 pm

  • Chinese spend $2.4billion a year on Australian property 
  • Australia top choice for Chinese real estate buyers

Chinese buyers are snapping up real estate spending more than $6million a day, with Australia an even more popular market than Canada, the United Kingdom or the U.S.

New Treasury figures show the Chinese spent $2.4billion on Australian residential real estate in 2021-22, with investment surging in the following financial year. (Shortened article)

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On another article.

Chinese buyers return and cause tension at auctions across Australia as they outbid locals, says real estate expert. Here's why they are buying up homes down under

Story by Olivia Day For Daily Mail Australia.

  • Auctioneer said Chinese investors are back on property scene
  • He said local buyers felt 'resentment' towards Chinese buyers
  • Chinese buyers spending up to $8million on Aussie real estate 

A top auctioneer says Chinese buyers have returned to Australia's property market and are causing tension at auctions as they outbid locals.

And then.

One Nation Leader Pauline has raised concerns about the impact migration and foreign investors have on Australia, saying it’s hard for Australians to “buy their own home”. 

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Now let me tell you about my views on this foreign ownership. I believe that Australia does not need them, because what they do is drive the price of real estate up. They also do not seem to care if their rental properties are vacant. So, they are here because they have too much cash in their country, and they want to transfer it to Australia to keep it safe and avoid taxes. In this case it would be good if the Australian government taxes them, with a tax that applies to foreign ownership, at least they could recuperate some of the damage they are doing to the economy.

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Other things affecting rentals.

We have talked about the Chinese investors, that buy rental properties for their own benefit, but there are many other things that need to be assessed, like what is being done to fix the rental problem, and is it the right thing to do, so, let us see what is happening, and report what we find here. (And I quote)  

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Greens Senator Janet Rice says the government is only going to provide a “tiny drop in the bucket” by building only 30,000 homes in the next five years.

“We want to see an outcome,” Ms Rice told Sky News Australia.

“We’ve got 750,000 people on public and affordable housing waiting lists around the country.

“What the government’s proposing is only going to provide 30,000 houses over the next five years – tiny drop in the bucket of what’s required.” (End of quote)

-----------------------

My reaction to that is. Okay Senator Janet Rice, we agree with you 100% that what they are going to build is not enough to solve the rental problem, but your party is making it harder even to do that, and with you scare tactics you are making it even worse, look at what else is happening. (And I quote)

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  • Aussie investors 'over it' as they bow out of the property market
  • Queensland sales of investor-owned property have ballooned

Property investors in one state are 'over it' as they bow out of the market in droves amid rising interest rates and higher land taxes.

Sales of Queensland investor-owned property increased to almost a third of all homes sold in June, according to PropTrack research. 

It comes as owners across Australia face skyrocketing property taxes and rental price cap speculation - adding pressure to their high mortgage repayments.

Sales of owner-investor properties in Queensland grew by eight per cent in just one month - up to 29.5 per cent of all house sales, higher than other state.  (End of quote).

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I must say that, after seeing what is happening in the rental market, as I have reported above, I believe that things are getting worse. And the Greens party is making it hard to fix, with their short sightedness, they want only to help the have not, even if they make the small investors become have not, with their unworkable policies.   

Anyhow, my view is that to solve this problem, all Australian sectors must try to work together, we do not need foreign ownership to control the Australian rental market, and the politicians must make sure that that does not happen.

So, it would be wiser to try to reconcile the differences and keep the rental market as it has been in the past, in   if it has worked for a very long time in the past, and it will continue to work in the future. Here I must add that, if the politicians want affordable rentals for the homeless at affordable cost, they must make sure that the landlords, can run their properties at an affordable cost, that guarantees some earning at the end, nobody can run properties at a loss. Therefore, they must not charge levies that the landlords find hard to pay. I hope I have explained myself clear enough.

I could say many other things, but I believe that this article is becoming too long for today readers, so, see you in our next article,  Australia rental problem review.  

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Sunday, August 20, 2023

Housing problems causes in Australia.

WELCOME TO BRISBANE AFFORDABLE RENTALS, YOU ARE INVITED. In this blog, we will discuss rental problems that we may incounter when renting, and the problems of running affordable rentals. We will also discuss, what the government can do to help the renters pay their rent, and the property owners run a better service to the renting community. 
Anyhow, we believe that the government Social Security System, can help both the people that are renting and the property owners. They should give more rent assistance to peple on low income that are renting, and they should abollish or modify the assets test on active rental properties, if they want the rental market stand on its own, so, to speak. For this reason, we are writing several articles, where we will talk about the rental problems and the Social Security System. 
 


This house is an old house for rent in Brisbane, TO CONTINUE
This is a typical block of units in Brisbane, these units are self-contained, so, they can be owners occupied of for rent. In cases like this, there is a body corporate and another levy, that the owner of each unit has to pay, four time a year.

Housing Problems causes in Australia.

Housing problems causes in Australia.   

Welcome to our article (141) Housing problems causes in Australia.

Dear readers, as I have said before, I want to inform you that I have followed the rental market for a long time, and I have written several articles about it, pointing out what I think can help to solve the rental problem. I have done that, hoping that someone in power takes notes of what I am saying, and does something about it, but so far nothing has happened. Anyhow, I believe that the main problem is that the Australian Social Security System must be equal for everyone, but it discriminates against the small investors away, to fix it they can start by abolishing the ASSETS TEST that keeps off the small investors that could have a property for rent. Anyhow, I will continue to write more rental articles, hoping that something positive happens, so, let me go on writing.  

So, let me make a short list of the most important things that in my view need to be done, to fix the rental problems that exist today. Now what I am going to say next is not what the people in power want to hear, because I believe that they are the people that have caused it, because of their greed, they are charging very high levies, and then hide behind the landlords, saying that it is the landlord greed that is causing this rental shortage, but it is not, because most of the landlords of affordable rental properties, are family people that have one or two properties for rent, the rich people keep away from rental properties, they cannot be involved, because they are hard to run, and cause too many problems, so, for them it is a waste of time.

Anyhow to make this brief I must say, I have found two things that hurt the rental market most. The first one is the land tax, that sometimes is so high that it is not worth to have rental properties, the second one is the ASSETS TEST, that in some cases can be even worse than the land tax, because it cuts off the small property owners to receive the government pension, and it also stops the disabled, the jobseekers and others to receive help from the government. So, hereunder I am going to describe step by step, how the ASSETS TEST affects the property owners in a negative way.

The land tax and the assets test problem.

Now to explain how the land tax and the assets test affects the small investors in a negative way, I am going to write an example. To make it easier to understand, the example that I am writing will be exaggerated a bit, so that it is easier to understand the message I want to convey. So, let me start to write this imaginary situation.

Mr and Mrs Lee have worked hard all their lives, they saved as much as they could, and have invested their saving, on two houses, and both the houses are on two large blocks of residential land, and the land value is over one million dollars each. They may be able to avoid the land tax for the house they live in, but they must pay the land tax on the rental property that could be around $6000.00 each year, just because they owned that house and land on the 30th of June.

Now Mr and Mrs Lee are retiring, so, they would like to apply for the Age Pension from the government, because they do not have much money, since they have spent most of their money on these two properties. but it is very unlikely that they will qualify, because of the assets test. So, let us try to work out if they can receive any pension from the government. But they cannot because they have over one million assets. So, the assets test cuts them off, because the maximum they can have for part pension is $986,500. So, they cannot have any pension, and they must live with what rent income is left, after paying all expenses, which is not enough.

Now let us work out how much money is left from their rental property.

They are renting the house at $600.00 per week, which in a year is about $31,200. Now from this money they must pay all the rental property expenses. So, let us see how much they expenses can be.

In Mr. and Mrs Lee case  

 Land tax $6000.00    

Council Rates charges $3000.00   

Urban Utilities $1800.00

Insurance $1500.00

Maintenance $1000.00 or more

Real estate charges to rent property. Over $2000.00

Now let us add them up. 6000+3000+1800+1500+1000+2000=$15,300.

So, the expenses are nearly 50% of the rent.

And Mr and Mrs Lee, only earn about one per cent of the value of rental property net.

If they did not have this house for rent, they would have received the full pension, which today is:

  •  Couple (each): $802.00 per fortnight (approximately $20,852 per year)
  • Couple (combined): $1,604.00 per fortnight (approximately $41,704 per year)

From the imaginary example of Mr Lee property, we can say that this is one of the reasons why there are not enough rental properties in Australia, but there is more to talk about, one of which is the foreign ownership, see below.

 

What other problems we have in rentals.

Then there is the problem of foreign ownership. See what I found on the internet.

New Treasury figures show the Chinese spent $2.4billion on Australian residential real estate in 2021-22, with investment surging in the following financial year. (Shortened article)

But we will talk about that in our next article.

So, if the government want the rental market to be self-sufficient, they must abolish the assets test on affordable rental properties, owned by Australians and permanent residents of Australia, or they can set the assets test at minus one dollar per thousand instead of minus three dollars per thousand a fortnight. So that some people may still want to own a rental property, because the way it is now, people are losing money, if they own a rental property and are on a government pension.  

There are more issues that influence the rental market to talk about, but this article is becoming too long, So, see you in our next article, where we are going to talk about the foreign ownership and Australian politics.

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Housing problems discussions

 Housing Problems Discussions

Welcome to our article (142)   


Tuesday, July 18, 2023

Housing problems in Australia, two.

WELCOME TO BRISBANE AFFORDABLE RENTALS, YOU ARE INVITED. In this blog, we will discuss rental problems that we may incounter when renting, and the problems of running affordable rentals. We will also discuss, what the government can do to help the renters pay their rent, and the property owners run a better service to the renting community. 
Anyhow, we believe that the government Social Security System, can help both the people that are renting and the property owners. They should give more rent assistance to peple on low income that are renting, and they should abollish or modify the assets test on active rental properties, if they want the rental market stand on its own, so, to speak. For this reason, we are writing several articles, where we will talk about the rental problems and the Social Security System. 

In Australia you can rent a house that you can afford. 



In Australia there are many types of housing for rent, but today there seems to be a shortage, so, it is not easy to find a house for rent. I believe that the reason of the shortage is there, because there is something wrong with the present government laws and the levies that they charge the landlords, and other anomalies, and this is what we are talking about here. 

Housing rental problems in Australia, two. 

Welcome to our article Australia Housing Problems, Two.

Dear readers, as I have said before, I want to inform you that I have followed the rental market for a long time, and I have written several articles about it, pointing out what I think can help to solve the problem. I have done that, hoping that someone in power takes notes of what I am saying, and does something about it, but so far nothing has happened. Anyhow, I believe that the main problem is that the Australian Social Security System must be equal for everyone, but it discriminates against the small investors away, to fix it they can start by abolishing the ASSETS TEST that keeps off the small investors that could have a property for rent. Anyhow, I will continue to write more rental articles, hoping that something positive happens, so, let me go on writing.   

Today I want to point out that one of the reasons why rents are high, it is because any type of housing costs a lot to build, therefore, when they are new, they cost a lot. But what about the older houses. Here I must say that existing houses and units cost a lot more than they should, perhaps the real estate agents are trying too hard to push the price up, and one day the prices may come down, or they may stop going up for a few years. So, those buyers that want to buy at all costs, better beware, because this can be coming sooner than you think.  

Anyhow, there are not enough houses being bult, and I wonder why they cannot be built and sold any cheaper. In the past whenever there was a shortage and the price of housing went up, they soon built more houses, and the price would return to normal. But today this is not happening, some people say that there are not enough tradesmen to build new houses, and not enough young people that want to be tradies and work on buildings. Anyhow, this is only one of the reasons, because there are many other reasons, why there are not enough rental properties on the market.

I believe that the reason why there are not enough properties, it is because the mum and dads, that are the greatest number of small investors, have been placed in a disadvantaged position and losing money, and at the same time they are being discriminated, as if it is their fault. When it is the fault of the government authorities that charge high levies, on affordable rental properties. Anyhow, once these small investors realize that they are overcharged and discriminated, they will stop investing in rental properties, and they might even sell them, because they are losing money. And this is another reason why there are not enough rental properties.

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Which charges and by-laws affect the rental market most.  

So, let us talk about which charges and by laws affect the rental market most in a negative way; and that is the reason why, it is not easy to fix, unless these laws are modified. I believe that there are at least two things that must be changed, for the rental market to be able to go back to normal, and this must be done soon. One is the assets test, and the other thing that hurts most is the land tax, that give the landlords nothing at all, but charge lots of money, just because you own a property, most of these properties are rental properties, therefore, the owners must charge more rent to pay for the lant tax.

Anyhow, we are continuing to study the Australian rental situation, but it is becoming clear that the rental market cannot go back to normal, because of these laws that charge lots of money, and put pressure on the landlords, who cannot do anything except charge more rent to pay for those levies.

So, this rental problem cannot be solved, unless the present governments change these negative laws, and makes the rental market cheaper to run, and it needs also to change or abolish the ASSETS TEST on affordable rental properties. So that those people that are on the rental market, like the pensioners, the disabled people, the jobseekers, and other people that during their lives need government help. When they apply for help, they cannot have it, because the assets test disqualifies them, even when they cannot earn money, from their rental properties. So, they may be forced to sell, and another rental property disappears from the rental market.

Now, I know that you start hating me, because you think that it is not possible that people that own properties need government help, but they do. You see the small investors, that have only a property for rent and no other income or funds, they need the government pension to survive, and this can be a real problem, because of the assets test, that discriminates against the property owners.  

Anyhow, to understand what I am saying, you must imagine what is really happening in the rental market, because there is not enough money left, after the owner pays the levies on that property, and they may earn only one or two per cent of the value of the property, and most of them may decide to sell the property. So, we can say that this is the reasons, why today there are less properties for rent.

You see, the ASSETS TEST, is set in a way that pretends that the owners can earn about 8% of the property value, when in most case they earn only 2% of the property value. So, if they want more rental properties on the market, the government must abolish the ASSETS TEST on affordable rental properties.

Here I know that most of you are not convinced about this, so, I need to write a few examples, and step by step explain how I have reached this conclusion, but this blog is becoming too long. So, I will write another blog or two if necessary to explain what I am saying. Meanwhile remember that the government Social Security System must be equal for everybody, but it is not equal. And it creates problems that must be fixed to run smoothly. See you in our next article, Housing Problems causes in Australia.

To see more click on this link,  Australia Housing Problems, Two.

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Tuesday, July 11, 2023

Housing problems in Australia, one.

WELCOME TO BRISBANE AFFORDABLE RENTALS, YOU ARE INVITED. In this blog, we will discuss rental problems that we may incounter when renting, and the problems of running affordable rentals. We will also discuss, what the government can do to help the renters pay their rent, and the property owners run a better service to the renting community. 
Anyhow, we believe that the government Social Security System, can help both the people that are renting and the property owners. They should give more rent assistance to peple on low income that are renting, and they should abollish or modify the assets test on active rental properties, if they want the rental market stand on its own, so, to speak. For this reason, we are writing several articles, where we will talk about the rental problems and the Social Security System. 


In Australia you can rent any house that is on the market for rent. 


Today, to attract the attntion of the readers, we are using this photo above. Now this property is not for rent, and perhaps it will never be for rent. We do not know who owns it, but very likely is a rich owner that lives in it. But there is nothing wrong to look at it, and wish you can have something like this one day. We hope you see what we mean. 
 

Welcome to our article, Housing Problems in Australia, Article One.

Dear readers, I want to inform you that I have followed the rental market for a long time, and I have written several articles about it, pointing out what I think needs improvement. I have done that, hoping that someone in power takes notes of what I am saying, and does something about it, but so far nothing has happened. Anyhow, I will continue to write more article, hoping that something positive happens, so, let me go on writing. 

Today in Australia, there are less properties for rent, and this is causing problems to people that are renting. So, we want to look at the reasons why this shortage is happening, because in the past, rental properties somehow found their own balance, and this problem was less acute, so to speak.  

Now, if we want to know why this is happening, the best way is to do it, is to look at what is changed and how the whole country is supposed to be run, and then, when we find the reason that has caused the rental shortage, we can suggest what could be done to fix it.

I suppose that if you have had something to do in renting a property, you can already guess, what the reasons of this rental shortage are. But here we need to look at those reasons closely, to make sure that what we are saying is correct.

So, let us look at how the Australian economy is run. Australia is a free democratic country, and the economy is run freely from all individuals. Now what happens in a free economy, is that all individuals are free to do what they want, but at the same time they are competing with other individuals that do the same thing, so, the price becomes set from the supply and demand market, and those individuals that are competing to sell the product they produce.

Of course, whatever business you are in and whatever you sell, you need to make some money to be in business, if there is not enough money the business you are running cannot survive, and you are forced to close whatever you are doing. I am saying this because, this is what happens in a capitalist economy. And this is good because the economy finds its own ways how to set the price and survive. But there are times, when things do not run the way they are supposed to run, and this will create problems, like the problem we are having now with rental properties, so, let us look at what is happening, because there is always a way how to improve the situation.  

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Now let us look at rental properties.

Having said that Australia uses a capitalist system to run the economy, now let us look at what is happening in the rental market, and why today there are not enough properties for rent.

Now what I am saying hereunder is the way that I remember. I remember this well because I have followed the rental market during my life, so, I remember that rents have always gone up, just like everything else. This was until the year 2010 or so, and since the year 2010 rents have not gone up as much as everything else, so, today rents need to go up, to reach the level where investors think that they can run a rental business without losing money. But the people that are renting do not see this need, and they think that they are paying too much rent already. Perhaps thy are used to cheap rentals, and now the rents are going up, so, they are complaining about it, and they say that they cannot afford to pay the rent. So, this rental problem is becoming a huge problem, and nobody seems to have a lasting solution.

Today, some political parties want to freeze the rent, others want to put a ceiling how much the rent can be increased, the present government want to build lots of affordable rental run from the government, and many other things. The only thing they are not talking about, is why there are not enough affordable rental properties on the market. So, let me explain what the reasons are.

I start believing that the reason for this rental shortage, can be attributed to the failure of the past governments for not making balanced laws for rental properties, and charging the present property owners high levies, without thinking the consequences. 

You see, properties owners can be said that they are running a service for the community, and if you run a service, you must make some money, otherwise you are forced to close. Here we can say that this is what has been happening, and for this reason, today there are not enough rental properties on the market. We can add here that a democratic capitalist country, will always find ways how to supply what needs to be supplied, unless there are laws that stops them earning enough money to run their business.   

Here I must say, that if the government in charge want to solve the rental problems, they must make better laws that aim to help to property owners to balance their housing business better. If they do that, then in a few years there will be enough housing on the market, and the problem is solved.

I suppose that I need to explain this better, but I believe that this article is becoming too long, so, to explain my point of view I will write more articles. But before I sign off, I want to say what I have noted. So I say, that to start improving the rental situation, the government of the day, could start abolishing the ASSETS TEST on affordable rental properties, because the assets test scares off most small investors, that could otherwise have a property for rent. 

To see more click on this link, Housing Problems in Australia, Article One. 

See you next time.  

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Sunday, June 25, 2023

How to fix the housing problem.

WELCOME TO BRISBANE AFFORDABLE RENTALS, YOU ARE INVITED. IN THIS BLOG, WE WILL DISCUSS RENTAL PROBLEMS THAT WE MAY INCOUNTER WHEN RENTING, AND THE PROBLEMS OF RUNNING AFFORDABLE RENTALS. WE WILL ALSO DISCUSS, WHAT THE GOVERNMENT CAN DO TO HELP THE RENTERS PAY THEIR RENT, AND THE OWNWES RUN A BETTER AFFORDABLE RENTAL SERVICE TO THE COMMUNITY. 
Anyhow, the farmers' problem in this article is similar to the rental problem that we have today, because the social security system can help both, if the assets test is modified. So, we are writing several articles, where we will talk about the rental problems and the Social Security System. 




Today the Australian rental market has a big problem, because there are not enough rental houses or units on the market. So, if we want to fix it, we must look at the reasons why this has happened, because in the past these things did not happen as much as today, and if something happened, they self corrected themselves soon enough. But today they are not, so, we must learn how to fix it. 


Welcome to article, How to Fix the Housing Disaster, My Views. 

Dear readers, we are writing about social issues that effect our way of life, and this is blog, No.9. 

How to fix the housing problem. 

Dear readers, before I can say anything about Australia rental problem, we must look at what the politicians are doing to fix it, because what is happening has been caused by the politicians themselves, as I will explain in my articles. Anyhow, we need to look at what is happening in the rental market. So, let us paste some reports that I found in the net, the 8th of June 2023, in this shortened quote hereunder.   

(And I quote)

Sydney's inner-city market has seen the biggest surge in rents with Treasury expecting a record 400,000 migrants to move to Australia by the end of this financial year, followed by 315,000 in 2023-24.

The city was home to nine of Australia's top 10 suburbs for rental increases, with Melbourne having one entry. 

Sydney was a city of extremes with rents soaring near the city but falling in scenic areas by the water, including on the Central Coast an hour's drive north. 

Rental increases of more than 20 per cent were recorded in parts of Brisbane, with double-digit increases also occurring in Perth and Adelaide.

(End of first quote)

Looks like that everywhere in Australia the house rent is going up. So, let us see what the politicians are doing, to solve the problem, if they can solve it.

Anyhow, the present government, believes that they can solve it buy building more affordable housing themselves, with our taxpayer money. See what I found on the net, and quote again.

The federal government has confirmed it will divvy up its $2 billion social housing booster payment to Australia's states and territories on a per capita basis.

  • NSW will receive the lion's share of $510 million, Victoria will get $496m, Queensland $398m and Western Australia $209m.
  • South Australians will see $135m of the money, while Tasmania, the Northern Territory and the ACT will take minimum slices of $50m each.
  • The funds will be allocated over the next fortnight.
  • Thousands of new homes will be created for public housing tenants with both new developments and upgrades of existing properties that are currently uninhabitable on the drawing board.
  • All of the money is to be committed by states and territories within two years ending June 30, 2025.
  • Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced the Social Housing Accelerator at the Victorian Labor conference on Saturday.
  • He did not specify exactly how many homes would be created, saying that would depend on how governments chose to spend the money.

"State and territory governments have agreed that it will be in perpetuity, so we're not going to have public housing built and then flogged off," he told reporters.

(End of the quote) Now let us say something how we see this situation.)

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How I see Australia rental situation. 

From what is happening is very clear that there are not enough rental properties available in Australia. Here we must point out that the Australian economy is set to run with the capitalist system, and in normal times is self-regulate itself, so, there is no need to do anything, but this time something went wrong, so let us explain today situation. 

One of the reasons for this rental shortage is that for the past ten years or longer, the rents have not gone up as much as other things, so, the few small investors that were investing in rental properties, have stopped investing, because they cannot make enough money to run the properties. The people in charge must understand that they have created this problem themselves, because of the several charges levied on property owners, and this includes rental properties, some of these charges are completely unjust, but they say that they must do that because they need the money, so, this problem has been created from the authorities in charge, and now they are looking for a way out. But what they are trying to do may not be the right way to solve the problem for good, like building some affordable rentals themselves.

But I believe that this rental problem cannot be solved for good, unless they fix what has caused it first. Anyhow, the government wants to build affordable housing, that they are going to pay with the taxpayer money. This may help, but it will not solve the problem, they must understand, that if the private investors are not able to run rental properties and make money, then the government body that is going to run affordable rentals, can only run them at a loss, I hope I have explained my views clearly.

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But what are the main causes. 

As we have said, there are not enough affordable rental properties for rent, because there is not enough money in rentals, if there was enough money, there would be investors. So, it is not what people believe that if you have a rental property, you are rich. In fact, I believe that if you have rental properties, you and your family have lost your freedom, and you feel that you are the slave of the tenants. This is only the first problem, because the biggest problem is how much money does this property make, and how it affects everybody in the family, which usually will be negative. So, let us explain how it affect property owners in a negative way.

If you are a pensioner, you may lose part of your government pension, and in some case the entire pension, because of the assets test. The assets test is the biggest problem for a lot of people, the greatest problem for the pensioners’ is that the assets test is set at least three time too high. So, for every dollar you can earn from the rental property, you very likely will lose fortnightly three dollars of government pension, this is one of the reasons why, there are no more small investors, wanting to invest in rental properties. I hope that I have explained myself clearly.

Now, the assets test affects other people as well in a negative way, like jobseeker and sick people, and other groups as well. So, it would be helpful if the government removes the assets test, or adjusts it in a more realistic way, that will reflect the same values for everybody. But let us go back to talk about rentals.

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How can we fix the rental shortage.

To fix the rental shortage, not only the government should build affordable rental properties, and run them the best way they can, even if they lose money. But above all they should abolish the assets test or set it up in a way that the property owners can earn the same money they can lose. You see, the property owners that we call landlords run a service to the community, and if you run a service you are supposed to earn some money. If you do not earn money, then this service becomes impossible to run. I hope you see what we mean.    

So, it seems to me that we need more money for rentals, and it would help if they gave more rent assistance to the tenants that are on low income, instead of blaming the landlords, that sometimes are worse of financially than the tenants.   

Anyhow, if what I have suggested can be done, then the rental market can slowly return to normal. If they do not, then the rental problem will be a lot harder to solve.

Well, this is what we have learned so far, and every day that I write something about rental, I will learn a bit more. So, the advice now is to abolish the ASSETS TEST ON AFFORDABLE RENTAL, and things will improve.

To see more click on this link, How to Fix the Housing Disaster, My Views. 

See you next time, with whatever we can learn about rentals. 

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