Leaked chat shows Aussie landlords debating Christmas rent relief

A leaked discussion from a Facebook group for Australian landlords has revealed some toil with idea of giving their tenants Christmas relief or gifts.

A leaked conversation from a Facebook group for Australian landlords has revealed some toil over the idea of giving their tenants Christmas relief or gifts, while others think they’ve provided enough.

The lengthy thread was kicked off by one landlady who asked: “Did anyone here give anything for Christmas to the tenants, for example, rent relief?”

Responses were abundant from the flat-out no camp.

Some Australian landlords are divided on whether to give their tenants Christmas relief or gifts.

“No, it’s a business relationship, not a personal relationship,” one wrote.

Another older gentleman added: “Keep your business on a business footing. When you’re running a property portfolio, you’re running a business. Gifts and presents, no. Market rents and quick repairs, yes.”

Some landlords see it as a business relationship while others give gifts to their tenants.

“No, because I paid for their water bills for years,” exclaimed another.

Another lamented: “Why? The bank doesn’t give me mortgage relief.”

Plenty, however, discussed gifts they gave their tenants, including rent relief over Christmas, tins of biscuits and toys for their children and pets.

Others say they sometimes consider gifts

Some suggested they’re feeling the pinch this Christmas holidays.

Others pushed back against those who chose not to give their tenants gifts.

“I gave two of my great, long-term tenants a week’s free rent each,” one revealed.

One said they had forgone relief or gifts this year in the shadow of increased interest rate but had previously given “a Bunning’s gift card” in the previous year.

In response to the no comments, the landlady who posed the question added: “No problem (commenter), just thought that without a tenant you wouldn’t have the extra income.”

One commenter feared the conversation would draw the attention of viral renter advocate PurplePingers aka Jordan van den Berg.

Another quipped: “Many businesses do give their clients gifts at Christmas in appreciation.”

One even said the post was “pure PurplePingers fodder” in relation to viral renter advocate Jordan van den Berg, who has spent recent years putting negligent landlords and real estate agencies on notice – most recently with a name-and-shame online database.

The average weekly rent for houses and units in Australia is around $600. Between September 2022-2023, there were national increases of 13.2 per cent for houses and 23.7 per cent for units.

Low rental inventory, RBA rate hikes, and migration are among some of the forces blamed rental price increases.

According to the latest Rental Affordability Index report, the pandemic has worsened rental affordability in all Australian capital cities, and the market is yet to recover.

Mortgage holders are feeling the pinch.

Rental affordability in all Australian capital cities has worsened due to the pandemic and the market is yet to recover. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Nicholas Eagar

An October report by analysts at Roy Morgan showed that 30.3 per cent of mortgage holders, a record high of 1,573,000, were at risk of mortgage stress in Q3 2023.

However, the head of the Reserve Bank’s financial stability unit has stated that most mortgage holders in Australia have been able to cope with the increase in interest rates, revealing in December that nearly 99 per cent of loans are either on schedule or ahead of repayment schedules.

Andrea Brischetto stated that although the amount of borrowers in “severe financial stress” had increased, most had been resilient, and “even in the event of an economic downturn, this is likely to remain the case.”