In reality the only reason we have negative gearing, is because the Government is bribing people to supply rentals, because they wanted to get out of supplying State Housing.In history how was relaxing rent controls offset by things like state housing, Home Start Assistance Home grants etc? Nice summary of history but seems an incomplete view of rental housing.
Could we promote extensive State housing as competition against the landlords. If we have more state housing then everyone pays to create homes for those who choose to rent. And you have rent control. Could fight for that.
Great read, some proper input Mr Borre. That woulda been preferable to your verbal vomit previously.Difficult I know Anyle; It's a three minute read... It's history not propaganda.
Try, if possible to be enlightening, for once. Find me a potted history of rent control from any conservative view point.
There may be one but it was way too tempting to hit the buttons of the learn nothing know nothing brigade of reactionary conservatives that haunt these threads with their most feared boogie man....
And more pertinent son, it's very relavant to this thread, for those with any analytical capacity.
A short history of rent control in Australia
EDITOR, SEPTEMBER 24, 2018
Reading Time: 3 minutes
Lots of people have heard that rent control, or rent regulation, exists in some counties in Europe, or in some states in the US, but very few are aware that it has also existed at various times in Australia.
For the most part governments have been forced to reign in private landlords during times of economic and social crisis.
Rent control was first introduced in New South Wales during the First World War in 1916, as part of the Fair Rents Act. This Act was amended in 1928 to wind back rent controls, but during the Great Depression rent controls were reintroduced with the Reduction of Rent Act (1931). This resulted in a 23% reduction in rents and restrictions on evictions.
The powers-that-be once again ended rent control with the Landlords and Tenants (Amendment) Act in 1932. This chopping and changing mostly coincided with changes of government at the New South Wales state level.
At the beginning of World War Two, 50% of all households were tenants of private landlords. The Commonwealth, under its defence powers, introduced the National Security (Fair Rents) Regulations 1939. This gave the states the power to freeze rents and establish Fair Rent Boards.
A form of rent control existed in most states across Australia and continued until August 1948. At this point there was a constitutional challenge against the government’s right to continue wartime price controls.
These controls were kept in the context of social unrest, strikes, communist agitation and the recent experience of the Great Depression. The constitutional challenge led to an unsuccessful referendum, where the Chifley government attempted to gain back rent and other price control measures.
The Landlord and Tenants Act 1948 maintained rent control in New South Wales beyond this, in order to provide security of tenure to all tenants. This was because of the dire need for accommodation following the war.
In 1954 however, all newly constructed buildings were exempted from the Act, and by 1956 a premise could be ‘decontrolled’ when vacated if registered with the Fair Rent Board.
In 1960 there were still 207,000 controlled dwellings, which amounted to two thirds of all private rental properties. In 1968, ‘wealthy tenant provisions’ were introduced to bring rents up to market value, winding back rent control further.
By 1974 there were only 20,000 rent-controlled tenancies in New South Wales and by 1986 no new protected tenancies could be created. The exception to this was ‘inheritance’, where if tenant died then a spouse or dependent could continue the lease.
A similar story played out in Victoria, where the Landlord and Tenants Act 1958 restricted the application of rent control provisions to ‘prescribed premises’.
In 1956 there were 180,000 protected tenants, but this was slowly whittled away. The Residential Tenancy Act 1980 aimed to remove rent control on the remaining premises over a period of two years. It was estimated that up to 10,000 pensioners still had rent control at that stage, and this Act caused a massive increase in rents for those least able to afford it.
In place of rent control, a new system was established in Victoria where a tenant could complain to the Residential Tenancy Tribunal if an increase in their rent was considered excessive. This was nowhere near as effective as proper government regulation.
Western Australia commenced the decontrol of rent in 1951. In Tasmania, rent control ended in 1955. In Queensland, protected tenancies were abolished in 1970 and in South Australia in 1962.
Today renters face renewed financial pressures, with millions once again suffering from rent stress. This is a direct consequence of landlords, developers and speculators making billions of dollars from people’s intrinsic need for a place to live.
As it stands, the rights of renters in Australia have been severely curtailed. There is a desperate need to build a movement of renters to pressure governments to overhaul the laws and grant renters much improved rights.
Rent control and other reforms have been won in the past, they can be won again. Let’s renew the fight!
**
Great read, some proper input Mr Borre. That woulda been preferable to your verbal vomit previously.
Yes you are right. At that time some Aussies were going over to the USA buying distressed residential units and they did alright out of it, except for a couple that were murdered by disgruntled tenants. Yep, so now those USA citizens can buy our real estate at a discount all these years later. Definitely has something to do with our currency going down.Just a though coming from an exchange on another thread
10y ago 1 aud was getting 1.1 USD.
Now 1 AUD get 0.6 USD
For an international buyer in 2020, isn't Australian RE cheaper now than it was 10y ago in usd term,?
At worse similar
And could RE price not be symptomatic of our currency decline, an inflation stability process wo name?
On the bigger picture this analysis is unsettling. I think all the points are quite valid. Bringing them together on one list is daunting.
If correct collapsing property values will be just one outcome.
Ten reasons why a 'Greater Depression' for the 2020s is inevitable
Nouriel Roubini
Ominous and risky trends were around long before Covid-19, making an L-shaped depression very likely
After the 2007-09 financial crisis, the imbalances and risks pervading the global economy were exacerbated by policy mistakes. So, rather than address the structural problems that the financial collapse and ensuing recession revealed, governments mostly kicked the can down the road, creating major downside risks that made another crisis inevitable. And now that it has arrived, the risks are growing even more acute. Unfortunately, even if the Greater Recession leads to a lacklustre U-shaped recovery this year, an L-shaped “Greater Depression” will follow later in this decade, owing to 10 ominous and risky trends.
https://www.theguardian.com/busines...-depression-for-the-2020s-is-inevitable-covid
Firstly I agree with your sentiments, however you have to remember the only place where prices are stupid are Melbourne, Sydney area.So we all as Australian citizens need to answer the following questions:
.
- Is shelter a basic need?
- Should shelter be for Australians and not an investment vehicle for foreigners?
- Does having some of the highest property prices in the world benefit Australians?
- Having high property prices (with a large debts associated with) make for a better society?
- Do our politicians or better, our political parties produce policies that will provide the same or better standard of living for Australians.
however you have to remember the only place where prices are stupid are Melbourne, Sydney area.
IMO it may well happen in the short term, but alas I think in the long term the immigration will continue.The quickest way to ease pressure in the Capitals is to stop the flood of people into Oz
After CV19 that may well happen, surely we will close the borders until we work our way out of this mess
Well in W.A prices are down a long way from the peak, I can give you an honest example close to home.I agree Syd and Mel are stupid prices, but can you elaborate on other areas in Australia that are not?
Before you do, I ask you to look at the region and its ability to provide an income and not just comapre a one bedroom apartment in Sydney to a 3 bedroom house 3 hours drive away for the center.
That will get you on the river in Perth, about 10klm out, I would guess the same applies in Tassie and S.A.If you bought property 3 years ago, it was clearly a dumb choice. Now i'd say it's reasonable considering how worthless the AUD is. A decent house in Sydney is $800,000AUD. This would've been $1mm+ in '17. $800k is about $500k USD. Not exactly expensive for a capital city.
The Government hasn't devalued the dollar, our currency is floated and it is valued by the international money markets.It's obvious the govt has gone the route of saving housing (as well as boosting export industry) by devaluing the AUD to make it one of the WORST performing currencies in the developed world. I foresee an even greater rate of inflation in the next few years.
Here is another example from Perth, in a cheaper area but just as close, $378k.I agree Syd and Mel are stupid prices, but can you elaborate on other areas in Australia that are not?
Before you do, I ask you to look at the region and its ability to provide an income and not just comapre a one bedroom apartment in Sydney to a 3 bedroom house 3 hours drive away for the center.
That will get you on the river in Perth, about 10klm out, I would guess the same applies in Tassie and S.A.
The Government hasn't devalued the dollar, our currency is floated and it is valued by the international money markets.
The RBA has been trying to drop the value of our currency for quite some time, by dropping interest rates, but it remained stubbornly high until very recently.
The reason ours is one of the worst performing currencies, is because it is one of the worst performing economies, we are basically a one trick pony 'mining'.
We are just lucky, we don't have a large population, so we can have a first World lifestyle with a third World economy.
It wont last IMO.
Realestate.com.au says rental listings on its platform were up 8 per cent across the country, compared to this time last year, with the biggest increase in listings in New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania, while Western Australia had the largest decline in listings. Domain Group saw a 10 per cent rise nationally between March 30 and April 26, compared to a year ago, with Sydney and Melbourne listings up 19 per cent and Hobart listings up 24 per cent, while listings in Perth fell 10 per cent. Nationally, SQM Research said there were more than 105,000 properties listed for rent as of Saturday — up from around 84,000 in early March.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-04...rge-prices-drop-airbnb-holiday-homes/12199262The increased supply of rental properties comes as demand decreases. "People who have lost jobs or income are trying to save money so are moving back in with parents, moving in with friends, dissolving share houses," Domain economist Trent Wiltshire said. "Net immigration has also fallen, there are fewer international students and workers … fewer young people looking to move out." [and t]here's another source of properties being put up for rent — holiday rentals that are sitting empty.
The freedom of Victorian tenants to choose where they live could be substantially restricted under new COVID-19 laws.
Legislation that cleared state parliament last week to combat effects of coronavirus on the state economy now requires renters on month-to-month leases to get a Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal order if they want to move out.
? Nice summary of history but seems an incomplete view of rental housing.
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