Lord Mayoral candidate Jonathan Sriranganathan proposes two-year rent freeze in Brisbane

Brisbane’s Lord Mayor has slammed a Greens’ plan to freeze rents, saying the proposal will simply drive investors away.

Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner has slammed a Greens’ plan to freeze rents, saying the proposal will simply drive investors out of the state.

Brisbane lord mayoral candidate Jonathan Sriranganathan said his rent freeze plan would be enforced by passing on higher fees to any landlords who raised rents – on both new and existing leases – at any time after January 1 this year.

“Our message to landlords is pretty straightforward: if you put up the rent, we’ll put up your rates,” he said.

Speaking on radio on Tuesday morning, Cr Schrinner dismissed Mr Sriranganathan’s proposal as a “knee jerk reactions” that would ultimately drive investors out of Queensland.

“The cost of interest rates are going up... if you target investors in this way, they will leave the market, there’ll be fewer investment properties, fewer rental properties, it will drive rents up even further,” he said.

Greens Lord Mayoral candidate Jonathan Sriranganathan. Picture: Richard Walker

Mr Sriranganathan yesterday called for more controls over rent increases.

“Unlimited rent increases should be illegal, but until the Labor state government acts, we’ll have to introduce an emergency freeze at the local council level,” he said.

He said a new “uncapped rental home” rates category would be created to enforce the freeze, with landlords who increase rents slapped with rate fees 750 per cent higher than average current rates.

For a unit in Brisbane CBD rented for $750 per week with a rates bill of $1500 per year, the owner would make an extra $2600 each year by raising the rent $50 per week – but would pay an extra $9750 in rates.

The plan would see baseline rental rates established for any new rentals entering the market, with any increase above the baseline then attracting the 750 per cent rates bill.

Any property investor or real estate agent who asked for or impose a rent increase above the rent charged would be required to notify council.

Cr Schrinner said investors were already “targeted quite heavily” by different levels of government.

“You’ve seen a lot of them (investors) say ‘I don’t need this drama’,” he said.

“There’s challenges with, you know, potentially bad tenants who they can’t get out of the property, higher taxes at the state and federal level, there’s a whole range of challenges.

“We want to see rents stabilised, we want to see rents come down. The best way to do that is to bring on new supply to build new homes.”

Mr Schrinner said the Greens opposition to certain Brisbane developments, including the Kurilpa Sustainable Growth Precinct in West End, was “counterintuitive”.

The Greens’ oppose the Kurilpa development over what they say is a lack of affordable housing options.

“Just here at Kurilpa, 10,000 new homes can be delivered. They’ve (the Greens) opposed that and it is really concerning because the policies they’re announcing will make the problem worse,” Cr Schrinner said.

“(Greens policies) will make housing affordability worse, will drive up rents higher, and that affects the people that they’re saying they wish to support.”

The Kurilpa Sustainable Growth Precinct. Picture: Brisbane City Council

Deputy Mayor Krista Adams yesterday labelled the policy as “destructive” and one that would likely exceed the limits on the powers given to councils to impose rates.

“This latest thought-bubble by the Greens’ self-declared anarchist candidate isn’t just his usual brand of loopy and loony, it’s also likely to be illegal and unconstitutional,” Ms Adams said.

“It demonstrates he’s completely clueless when it comes to helping renters, and would have a destructive impact on every Brisbane household.”

Ms Adams said council was dealing with the housing crisis by increasing supply, not by charging landlords more.

“An increase of supply obviously not only puts downward pressure on housing prices, but also on rental accommodation,” she said.

“In our approvals we are seeing many build-to-rent opportunities and the more build-to-rent we see, the more downward pressure on rental prices.”

The state’s Housing Minister Meaghan Scanlon refused to comment when told of the Greens’ proposal on Monday night.

The Greens’ Housing Justice platform for the March 2024 Brisbane City Council election also includes a vacancy levy and a 45-night annual limit for Airbnb properties.

Greens federal MP for the inner-south seat of Griffith Max Chandler-Mather said the proposed freeze on rents could save tenants more than $2000 annually.