Coronavirus: Income loss key to help with housing in Queensland

Tenants will need to prove they have lost a quarter of their income in order to access rental relief in Queensland.

Tenants will need to prove they have lost a quarter of their income due to the coronavirus in order to access rental relief, under a package to be put to the Queensland parliament on Wednesday.

The test was added to the $20m relief scheme as part of a series of amendments designed to make the package fairer for landlords and tenants.

The initial announcement last week attracted fierce criticism from Real Estate Institute of Queensland chief executive Antonia Mercorella, who said the package was unfairly skewed ­towards tenants and would throw mum-and-dad investors “to the wolves”.

Renters will now have to prove a 25 per cent loss in income or that rent accounts for more than 30 per cent of their income as a result of the coronavirus in order to qualify for relief. The government had first suggested no minimum ­requirements.

Real Estate Institute of Queensland chief executive Antonia Mercorella.

A secondary amendment will also force renters to show a 75 per cent loss of income in order to break a lease with one week’s ­notice. The changes will put Queensland in line with NSW and Victoria.

Ms Mercorella, who held talks with the government on Tuesday to help finalise the bill, said she was satisfied with the revised framework, which she said now provided “a more balanced and fair ­approach for all parties involved”.

The government last week ­offered a six-month eviction moratorium for tenants in financial distress, with discounts waived rather than deferred until the end of the period.

“We support the protection of tenants who are in financial distress due to this pandemic,” Ms Mercorella said.

“However, the scope of the previously proposed measures were too broad in their application. In fact, they were the most onerous of their kind for property owners across all Australian jurisdictions.

“The previously proposed measures would have seriously harmed over 600,000 property owners. Furthermore, it would have had a devastating impact on the future of the property market and broader Queensland economy.”

An opposition spokesman said the Liberal National Party would support the package on the condition it was endorsed by the REIQ.

The rollout of the framework will be overseen by a new COVID-19 housing security subcommittee, made up of the Residential Tenancies Authority, the REIQ, QShelter, Tenants Queensland and the Queensland Council of Social Service.

Tens of thousands of letters of complaint were sent to Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk as part of an organised campaign against the initial relief package, the REIQ said.