Aussie landlord reveals the shocking reason why they won’t rent to ‘single women’

Landlords have revealed their secret and weird rules for choosing a tenant for their properties, including a tenant who won’t rent to single women.

It comes as the country faces an ongoing housing crisis that is causing many tenants to struggle to find accommodation as prices soar.

A Facebook group created for Australian property investors recently looked at what landlords look for in a potential tenant.

A future homeowner from New South Wales created this post to try and figure out what he should be looking for.

Several landlords said the first thing they consider is whether a tenant has a stable job and savings to pay the rent.

“Jobs, money in the bank, a good story, etc., but I also went with my instincts, and it served me well every time,” one wrote.

Another added that a good rental history was also important in selecting a tenant.

“Clear rental book, clear rental history. A (long-term) family is a good choice, as it is less likely to break up and not be able to pay the rent. Good income,” they said.

“Don’t let the rent exceed 30 percent of their salary.”

Others felt it was difficult to meet the 30 per cent rule, given the crisis in the cost of living and high rental prices.

They preferred a clear rental history and long-term rental.

Other owners gave more unusual answers to the question.

One of them advised landlords not to “have single women as tenants”.

“You’re at risk with DV issues, boyfriends moving in, etc., especially with the new DV laws,” they said.

New South Wales laws protect people who experience domestic violence by allowing them or their dependent children to immediately end their tenancy without penalty.

Others recommended asking for photos of a renter’s car and pets to see if they are caring for them, which they said would give a good idea of ​​their ability to care for the property. property.

“If they have dogs, I like to see pictures of them to know they are well cared for,” one said.

“I’ve found that people who take care of their dogs tend to take care of everything in their lives…it’s a bit anecdotal but it’s seemed true so far,” one said. of them.

Another owner advised investors to ‘check’ out a potential renter’s car because ‘if they don’t take care of it, they won’t take care of your house’.

Several landlords said the first thing they consider is whether a tenant has a stable job and savings to be able to cover the rent (pictured, rental sign outside a Brisbane home)

Renters have had it tough for years with sky high rents and few properties available (pictured, people queuing to see a property for rent)

Sydney is Australia’s most expensive rental market, with median weekly unit rent in the year to July up 24.1 per cent to $666.39, while the equivalent rent for a house rose 15.9 percent to $963.92, according to data from SQM Research.

The city’s rental vacancy rate is still low at 1.6 per cent, with Sydney’s population growing at an average annual rate of 2 per cent over the past decade, “mainly driven by international migration”.

Last month it was revealed that barely one in 100 rentals was affordable for essential workers.

Kasy Chambers, executive director of Anglicare Australia who took the snapshot, says the figures help explain why essential industries are facing labor shortages as workers cannot afford to live in the regions where the shortage is most serious.

“Hardly any part of Australia is affordable for the aged care workers, early childhood educators, cleaners, nurses and many other essential workers we rely on,” she said. declared.

“They cannot afford to live in their own community.

The survey, conducted on March 17, looked at 45,895 rental listings across the country and calculated how many of them were available at less than 30 percent of the allotment rate for 16 categories of essential workers.

The study found that early childhood educators, hospitality workers and meat packers could only afford 0.9 per cent of available ads in Australia this weekend.

Aged care workers could afford 1.1 per cent of rentals, nurses 1.5 per cent and ambulance drivers 2.4 per cent.

Even in the Australian region, where prices have always been lower than in urban centres, housing was generally unaffordable unless it was so remote that jobs were not widely available there.

Kasy Chambers, executive director of Anglicare Australia, said the private housing market had let low-income people down, with vacancies at a record 0.8 per cent (pictured, a Melbourne auction ).

Treasurer Jim Chalmers acknowledged that Australia faces a huge housing challenge and people need to be able to live close to where they work.

But he said the main problem was supply, which could be solved through the $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund.

The proposal stalled in the Senate, but the Greens have promised to help pass the legislation if the government offers states and territories money to cap rents and provide more rights for tenants.

Ms Chambers said the private housing market had let low-income people down, with rental vacancy rates at an all-time high of 0.8 per cent despite a record number of homes being built in the past 10 years. years.

“The best way to make rentals more affordable is to build social and affordable housing,” she said.

“And we need tax reform to put people in need of housing, not investors, at the center of our system.”