Premier reveals how rent cap ‘option’ might work in Queensland

The Premier has revealed details about an “option” to limit rent increases, as many Queenslanders continue to struggle under the housing crisis. VOTE IN THE POLL

• Glaring detail in homeless stats
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An “option” on the table to help under pressure tenants is to limit rent increases to “once a year, rather than twice a year” Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has said, reaffirming the state government would not implement a “rent freeze”.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk. Picture: Dan Peled / NCA NewsWire

Speaking on the Today Show on Wednesday, Ms Palaszczuk blamed “people” for going off on tangents after comments she made on Monday about “very seriously” considering how a rental cap could be put in place.

She said rental stress was a “big issue” which needed to be discussed.

“People are reporting to me that they are seeing rents going up $200 a week, $400 a week, and people are finding it so hard to make ends meet, especially with the higher cost of living,” she said.

“So one example that’s on the table is limiting those increases to once a year, rather than twice a year, to put a bit of downward pressure.

“In this sort of situation people are finding it very hard to make ends meet, and I’m hearing that and I’m responding.”

Ms Palaszczuk said the government was not suggesting a “rent freeze”, something Deputy Premier Steven Miles noted on Tuesday.

Ms Palaszczuk on Monday revealed the state government was “very seriously” considering how to put a rental cap in place, prompting economists to warn the move would make the state’s housing crisis worse.

The comments came after a report commissioned by the Queensland Council of Social Service revealed 300,000 people across the state were experiencing housing insecurity amid soaring rental prices and inadequate social housing supply.

The Blueprint to Tackle Queensland’s Housing Crisis report revealed the rate of homelessness surged 22 per cent since 2017 – nearly triple the national rate.

New data from PropTrack also recently revealed tenants in more than 1140 Queensland suburbs were paying up to $430 a week more than they were a year ago, with strong interstate migration and the return of international students adding to pressures.

But economists, including the Grattan Institute’s Brendan Coates, said interfering in the market by putting a cap on rents was bad policy and would make the “race for space even worse” by discouraging investment in rental housing and reducing supply.