Cairns removalist notes new rental trend amid region’s housing crisis

A Far Northern removalist says he “feels for” some of his clients in the midst of a housing crisis, highlighting a new trend he has not seen in three decades.

A HEARTBREAKING trend is playing out across the Far North as the region’s rental crisis deepens.

As houses are snapped up at record speeds, one city removalist has revealed he is being tasked with moving people’s possessions directly from sold rental properties into storage and a growing number of families are being left with nowhere to go.

Chess Moving North Queensland director Les Forrester says he “feels for” many of his clients stuck in the midst of the housing crisis.

He said while summer was always a busy period for the industry, unfortunately his forward bookings did not indicate a potential ease of rental demand.

“This time of the year we’re moving a lot of government employees, teachers, police, defence,” Mr Forrester said.

“A lot of these transfers are a catch-up after Covid, and they’re not all moving into government houses, so some would be taking up local rentals too.

Removalist Nigel Balch of Chess Moving (also known as Great Northern Removals). Picture: Brian Cassey

“At the moment, we’re fully booked out until January with government work.”

In the private sector, Mr Forrester said he was receiving a lot of inquiries for residents wanting to move locally, and out of the region, but there was a worrying trend he had noticed.

“In the last 12 months I’ve noticed people moving out of rentals, because the house is being sold, asking to put their stuff into storage – because they have nowhere to go. You really feel for them, they’re really under pressure.

“That’s not something I’ve ever seen before,” Mr Forrester who started the company in 1986 said.

The REIQ’s FNQ region zone chair Tom Quaid said “an exception” to the traditional buyer inquiry rule and a supply-troubled residential construction industry meant rental vacancy in Cairns was as tight as ever.

“We’re definitely seeing those people who built under the HomeBuilder grants move in, but it’s not at a rapid level,” he said.

“A lot of those contracts signed 12 months ago – construction has barely started, some don’t even have slabs.

“And that’s all to do with the supply and material costs issues.”

With the region desperately in need of more private residential investors, Mr Quaid said unfortunately his recent sales did not indicate a shift away from “lifestyle and owner occupier” buyers.

The REIQ’s FNQ region zone chair Tom Quaid. Picture: Brendan Radke

“We’re still getting a lot of property purchased sight unseen, and a lot of interstate inquiry, with the intention of moving up here.

“It’s about 30-50 per cent inquiry from outside the region at the moment. That’s certainly a lot higher the pre-pandemic. Then it was an exception to the rule, to have that odd inquiry from Brisbane maybe.”

Mr Quaid said he was still seeing rental properties being snapped up within days of listing and encouraged tenants to speak with their landlords as early as possible if they needed to extend their lease.

While residents struggling to find a suitable rental continue to struggle in a competitive market, CoreLogic’s research director Tim Lawless said the pressure was also ramping up once the lease is signed.

“With regional housing rents rising 12.5 per cent over the past year at a time when household incomes have hardly budged, it’s likely that rental affordability is becoming a lot more challenging in some of the most popular regional markets.”

Originally published as Cairns removalist notes new rental trend amid region’s housing crisis