Sunrise host David ‘Kochie’ Koch has called on Australians to “love their landlords” amid the rental crisis and told frustrated tenants to “direct their anger at all three levels of government” .
In an opinion piece for The NightlyKoch said landlords have been vilified for raising property rents in Australia, while not enough blame has been placed on the government.
Koch says the real reason rents are rising is “a combination of rising interest rates, a lack of new development due to land scarcity, delays in approvals, banks reducing borrowing capacity and developers going to bankruptcy”.
“Added to this is the lack of commitment from governments to develop sufficient affordable and low-cost rental housing,” he said.
Some tenants criticized former Sunrise host David Koch for sending a ‘love letter’ to landlords
‘It is complex and there is no miracle solution. But so-called “greedy” landlords are being unfairly targeted as scapegoats.
You probably have one in your family or among your friends, and I bet they’ve raised the rent to cover the increasing loan payments.
‘But vilifying real estate investors is going to make the crisis much worse. The reality is that many of those owners are now saying it’s simply not worth it and are selling, which only compounds the problem.’
Koch argued that landlords and property investors are Australia’s best chance of surviving the rental crisis, which has seen rental prices soar across the country.
“At the end of the day, the supply of rental properties depends on investors buying a property and then renting it out,” he said.
‘For that to happen, the property must generate a return that makes it worthwhile for the investor to choose the property over shares, term deposits or any other alternative.
‘When it’s not worth it, investors go elsewhere as they have the right to do so. “That only aggravates the crisis.”
Finding an affordable rental has become much more difficult as the national rental vacancy rate drops to an all-time low.
There are 2.2 million homeowners in Australia; Of those, just over 71 per cent own one investment property and 19 per cent own two, according to the Australian Taxation Office.
“They’re not property tycoons, they’re ordinary Australians trying to build up savings,” Koch said.
The TV presenter pointed to figures showing landlords are selling their investment properties at high prices as a sign that many believe renting is “just not worth it”.
“The only way to quickly solve the rental crisis is to love the landlord and encourage more real estate investors to make more shares available,” Koch said.
He also criticized the government for letting private investors do “the heavy lifting” in building enough new homes to meet demand.
Koch said the federal government’s $10 billion Australian Housing Future Fund, which will provide 30,000 social and affordable homes, is “small compared to what is needed.”
“This lack of commitment from governments to solve the rental crisis has been going on for decades and we have been shockingly negligent compared to the rest of the world,” he said.
Debate heats up: Australians divided over Kochie’s views on landlords
However, his sympathy for the landlords fell on the ears of Australians struggling to keep up with their mounting bills.
“The government is not trying to wriggle out of paying for urgent repairs or trying to impose that cost on the tenant for fair wear and tear,” one said.
“My brother, this is the world your generation created,” wrote another.
‘Sorry, these aren’t your average moms and dads; They are greedy people trying not to pay income taxes. And we subsidize them. Shameful,” added a third.
A fourth said: “Another millionaire broadcaster offline.” The rental crisis is real and it affects normal people who don’t earn millions a year. Don’t comment until you’ve walked a mile in other people’s shoes, Kochie.
A fifth wrote: ‘Those who borrowed too much and couldn’t manage a small interest increase are making their tenants pay. “That’s not fair or decent.”
However, many others showed their support for the owners and criticized the government.
‘Why bring more than half a million immigrants to Australia when there weren’t enough homes for people here to begin with? “It’s a total disregard for the people who live here,” said one of them.
Another added: ‘Tenants are useless; They can’t even remove the plug from the sink or connect a hose to an outside tap without asking for help.’
A third said: ‘I’m a landlord and have been for about 30 years. After paying all expenses, I’m lucky to earn 1.5 percent on my investment.
‘I need to pay council rates, water rates, insurance, bank interest, repairs and maintenance, safety audits, agent fees, accounting fees, income tax on positive geared properties and land tax. I’m sure I’ve missed some.
‘As I have a couple of properties, the land tax is deadly! You can rent for up to two or three months! The only way to make money on a property is to SELL and pay capital gains if you have owned the property for more than 10 years.’
Rental vacancy rate drops to new low
Australia’s rental market contracted further in February, with the national vacancy rate falling to a record low of 0.7 per cent.
Economist and report author Anne Flaherty says the situation is unlikely to improve in the near future.
“Conditions are really tough for tenants at the moment,” he told AAP.
‘The fact that the population is growing, that the supply of new homes is slowing down, what this implies is that we will not see a change in these conditions in the short term.
“I think the situation could get worse than it is now.”
Landlords are also increasingly withdrawing their properties from the rental market because the costs associated with this have increased and are not always covered by steep rent increases.
“For some of them, the accounts are no longer working and they are selling,” Ms. Flaherty said.
Although this is good news for those who want to buy homes, the rental stock decreases.
“The reality is we need more rental properties,” Ms. Flaherty said.
“A third of Australians are renters and new Australians are more likely to be renters too.”
Although governments could help address the rental crisis by increasing rental assistance programs, there are almost no other solutions that can address the problem in the short term.
And any plan to increase housing supply takes years to plan and build.
“There is no silver bullet for this,” Ms. Flaherty said.
“Governments must work together to explore all options to increase housing supply, not only increasing affordable housing, but also making it easier for build-to-rent developments to take place, making it viable to remain a property investor, working on those barriers to development of new housing.’
