Former landlord calls for balanced renting rules

A former Cairns landlord has called for fairer regulation between renters, landlords and property managers and says laws skewed towards tenants’ rights discourage investors and further tighten an already tough housing market.

A CAIRNS resident who previously owned rental properties has called on the real estate industry to foster better communication and fairer regulation between renters, landlords and property managers as laws skewed towards tenants rights discouraged investors and further tightened an already tough housing market.

As the number of tenants far exceeds available rental dwellings, former landlord Allan Williams, 58, said his experiences which “involved nightmare tenants and ineffectual real estate agents”, meant he would “never again” invest in property.

“What struck a chord was that every single article about the rental crisis was from the viewpoint of tenants being unable to access a rental property, there was nothing about landlords,’ he said.

“While I have empathy for the good tenants out there, the fact that as an owner we are basically viewed as an ‘enemy’ by all parties, and a rich one at that.

“Nightmare tenants took us to the brink and I would not own another rental for all the tea in China.”

A Cairns resident who is a former landlord has said legislation is currently in favour of tenants and unless a more balanced approach is found to protect landlords, more investors like him will leave the market.

Mr Williams said he sold his rentals in late 2019 after tenants caused damage, refused to pay rent on time, left his properties requiring extensive and expensive repairs and made vexatious court claims.

“In my understanding, current legislation definitely favours tenants at the expense of landlords,” he said.

“Our property agents were not doing their duty to inspect and report the tenants’ conduct, allowing the property to be damaged and they were able to access free legal support, but as a landlord I was told we would have to engage a lawyer.

“When we sold our interstate rental properties, we felt nothing but relief.”

However, the current rental squeeze means that good tenants can miss out on a property due to the high volume of people looking for a home.

In Cairns, Tenancy Skill Institute Chief Executive Officer, Paul Tommasini said their innovative free courses funded by the Queensland government aim to give people the skills to be “model tenants” and will be held at the Mareeba Community Centre on December 1 and 2.

“The course which is also free online covers tenants rights and responsibilities, communications, money and budgeting and maintaining and cleaning the property,” he said.

“We have everyone from first time renters through to longer term tenants who are looking to add something else to their rental portfolio and show they are interested in being good tenants and the course is recognised by a number of FNQ real estate agents, the Real Estate Institute of Queensland and the Residential Tenancies Authority.”

Tenancy Skills Institute courses cover a range of topics including managing finances, tenants rights and responsibilities, property maintenance and communications to give potential renters the skills to be model tenants.

The Australian Landlord Association were also contacted for comment.

Originally published as Former landlord calls for balanced renting rules