Peak real estate bodies have appealed to property owners to release their temporary rentals onto the long-term market to try and stop vacancy rates dropping further after the floods.
While good in principle, Logan real estate agents believe the move will be hard to implement as rental stock is low and investors might not embrace the idea if it costs them money.
The Real Estate Institute of Queensland and housing affordability advocate Q Shelter state that homelessness could worsen due to people being displaced during the floods and the already tight rental market.
A joint campaign will see the two bodies brief local real estate agencies on converting pre-existing short term rentals to long term ones. They will also lobby to the state government to reward people wishing to place their properties on the long term market.
“The Queensland rental market was already at historically low vacancy rates leading up to the recent flood crisis,” REIQ CEO Antonia Mercorella said.
“At the same time, displaced tenants and owner-occupiers are now hitting the market desperate for alternative accommodation.
“It is difficult to see any way that this wave of demand can be met without the support of property owners moving their properties to the long term rental market.”
Q Shelter executive director Fiona Caniglia said she expects to see homelessness worsen due to the “unless we see more properties coming onto the market”.
The REIQ estimates that 200,000 properties in Queensland are either vacant or used for short-term or holiday letting.
The figures are based on the Rental Tenancies Authority’s data on the number of rental properties where a bond has been lodged. Property managers are not always required to issue a bond, so the number is likely higher, the REIQ said.
That is in a market where rental vacancy rates performing poorly, hovering around 1 per cent, which is where most suburbs in Logan are at.
The REIQ said it is difficult to judge how many homes in Logan fall under the estimated of total of home used for short-term letting.
Holiday letting business Airbnb provides some insight, with around 300 properties or rooms listed in Logan.
Avi Khan, principal of Ray White Marsden, embraces the idea but said it would be hard to implement.
“It is sensible and appropriate given the situation on the ground with families looking for rentals,” he said.
“Logan itself does not have a plethora of short term rentals, and as such, there won’t be enough stock in the region to convert to long term rentals.
“The realities are that investors will make decisions on commercial realities.
“As rental rates rise due to the shortage, some short term rentals may be better off being long term rentals.”
Property manager Jane Scope, from Home Scope, said the push to get more rentals in the long-term market it is “definitely” a good idea, but also doubts that there is the stock in Logan to generate the desired effect.
“I’ve got a list as long as my arm of people wanting rentals, so we barely have any rentals to do anything with,” she said.
For people such as owner-occupiers who find themselves displaced because of the floods and looking for a rental, but do not have an official rental history, Ms Scope recommends having personal references in hand.
“We ask if they have any photos of the property [as proof of upkeep], ask for at least three personal references – that’s how we go about it,” she said.
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