‘Burn down the real estate agency’: Former Greens councillor’s anti-landlord rap

A former Greens politician and renters’ advocate has released a fiery hip-hop song taking aim at greedy landlords and real estate agents.

A former Greens politician and renters’ advocate has released a fiery hip-hop song taking aim at greedy landlords and real estate agents.

Jonathan Sriranganathan, a former Brisbane City councillor from 2016 to 2023 and Lord Mayoral candidate in this year’s election, shared a clip of a new song, ‘Notice to Leave’, from his “hip hop/folk band” Rivermouth on Sunday.

Sriranganathan, who was a musician and beat poet before entering politics, animatedly raps in the track that “if you keep jacking up the rent, we’re gonna burn down the real estate agency”.

“No, these lyrics are not a policy statement or legislative proposal — they’re simply a reflection of growing frustration in our communities where thousands of renters are becoming desperate,” he wrote on X, where the video has been viewed more than 64,000 times.

Sriranganathan raps, “I’m paying off your mortgage? Landlords are obsolescent. Your retirement ain’t self-funded mate, it’s funded by your tenant. Tents in the park while penthouses sitting empty. Better cut the rent soon ‘cos we ain’t gonna riot gently. If you keep jacking up the rent, we’re gonna burn down the real estate agency.”

Former Greens councillor Jonathan Sriranganathan. Picture: Josh Woning

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One fan replied, “This s**t slaps.”

Another wrote, “Great work mate!”

Other reviews were more mixed.

“This guy is ready to commit arson before looking at our immigration issue,” one X user wrote.

Another said, “The issue is basic economics. Supply and demand. Too much demand for a limited supply. Record immigration numbers will do that.”

A third wrote, “It’s odd the song isn’t about how the two major parties flooded the country with several million immigrants in just a few years, massively increasing demand and contributing nothing to supply, supported by the Greens.”

Sriranganathan hit back, “Rents started rising steeply in late 2020 even before Covid immigration restrictions were lifted. Maybe instead of blaming the migrants who build houses, care for the sick and pack groceries, we should blame the greed of wealthy property hoarders.”

Sriranganathan, who lives on a $37,000 houseboat with his partner, has long been an outspoken critic of landlords and real estate agents and blames property owners for the rental crisis.

While most economists have pointed to Australia’s record immigration levels putting pressure on rental markets, Sriranganathan has previously dismissed “supply and demand” arguments as “xenophobic propaganda”.

“Immigration isn’t causing rising rents,” he said in a Tiktok video in October.

“Blaming immigrants because landlords are trying to squeeze more rent out of their tenants is using racism and xenophobia as a shield and an excuse for capitalist exploitation.”

Sriranganathan received 19.5 per cent of first preference votes in March’s Brisbane Lord Mayoral race, which saw the LNP’s Adrian Schrinner comfortably re-elected.

Sriranganathan is an outspoken critic of landlords. Picture: X

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Australia’s population grew by 2.3 per cent, or 615,300 people, to 27.1 million in the 12 months to April, according to figures published by Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) in September.

Net overseas migration accounted for 83 per cent of the growth, or 509,800 people, a 3.6 per cent increase compared with the previous 12-month period.

While conditions in Australia’s rental markets have eased slightly in recent months, supply remains well blow pre-pandemic levels and prices continue to increase significantly faster than inflation.

Annual rental growth slowed to 5.3 per cent in November, its slowest level since April 2021, according to CoreLogic.

Meanwhile the number of vacant rentals in October jumped to 1.36 per cent, the highest level since July 2023, PropTrack found.

REA Group senior economist Anne Flaherty previously told news.com.au population growth was a key driver of the rental crisis.

“Not just on its own but the reality that we’re not building homes fast enough to accommodate population growth, which is the critical issue,” she said.

“All the challenges we’re seeing in the building and construction industry at the moment means it’s taking longer and it’s more expensive. The biggest slowdown in development activity we’re seeing is in the unit market. Those are very frequently the kinds of homes people will rent in capital cities.”

Record immigration has fuelled the rental crisis. Picture: Nicholas Eagar/NCA NewsWire

Ms Flaherty said the number of new homes completed was simply unable to keep up with Australia’s population growth.

“We’re seeing the markets with the biggest undersupply of new housing relative to population growth seeing the worst outcomes,” she said.

“When people first come to Australia they’re more likely to be renters than owner-occupiers for at least the first five years. That puts instant pressure on the rental market.”

According to the most recent Census, 27.9 per cent of migrants who have been in Australia for less than five years own their home, either outright or with a mortgage, compared with 55.6 per cent of migrants who have been in Australia from five to 10 years.

AMP chief economist and head of investment strategy Shane Oliver has warned the housing shortfall is “expected to remain significant for a long while yet as building approvals running around 175,000 dwellings a year indicate that completions are likely to run below government objectives for 240,000 per annum (or 1.2 million over five years) for some time to come and may never reach that objective”.

“The accumulated shortfall of dwellings in Australia is estimated to be around 200,000 dwellings at least, but if the decline in the average number of people per household seen in the pandemic years is sustained then the accumulated shortfall could be around 300,000 dwellings,” he wrote this week.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has promised to cut annual migration to a 235,000, while the Coalition has set a target of 160,000 if it wins next year’s election.

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