Is it time to put a freeze on rental prices?

Amid a worsening rental availability crisis and with a new budget that’s left many struggling renters feeling disillusioned, is it time for a rent freeze to ease the growing pressure on millions of Sydney residents?

Despite the announcement of measures including a raise in the rent assistance cap, more social and affordable housing, tax incentives and broadening Home Guarantee Scheme eligibility, early exit polling regarding last week's budget indicates that a clear majority of renters are either unhappy with the measures on offer or don’t believe they go far enough to help the most of the people affected.

The findings have come as new stories emerge of Sydney landlords suggesting struggling tenants start leasing and partitioning individual rooms in their property to ease rising costs - blatant profiteering that is against current regulations according to the Property Owners' Association of NSW. There have been regular reports of premises offering balconies, sunrooms and common areas partitioned by blankets or makeshift walls - all asking for over $200 per week.

But according to the Property Owners Association of NSW, these kind of underhanded tactics will become commonplace if the government tries to freeze rents for a set period of time.

"We have heard of landlords doing that," POA NSW President John Gilmovich told Newscorp.

"It's absolutely against current regulations, it isn't safe and definitely not what we'd recommend any property owner should do.

"However, with threats of rental freezes and governments trying to take more control over privately owned properties, we're seeing more of this covert, dangerous and dishonest behaviour." 

It's an unconvincing argument that tries to throw the blame back at government for even considering stricter regulation - and a worrying sign of a possible conflict to come, with renters caught in the middle.

SURVEY SAYS

According to a survey by rent.com.au undertaken in the days immediately following the release of the Federal Budget, there was an overwhelming sentiment that the measures the government did introduce didn't go anywhere near far enough to ease the pressures on most renters. They found that 55% of renters didn't feel the budget supported them whatsoever, while another 25% said that while the offer was a good sign, it's nowhere near enough.

Despite a relatively small sample size, it's hard to believe that a broader survey would deliver any results that were significantly different. m

Meanwhile, despite regular reports throughout the last quarter suggesting availability rates were set to improve, the rate has dropped more percentage points between January and April, currently sitting at an unbelievably scarce 1.54%, while rent prices have gone up a staggering 30% in the past two years, with some Sydney apartment rentals jumping over 20% in the past 12 months alone.

In parliament, the Greens are pushing hard for the federal government to do more - leading with a rent-freeze for a period of up to two years. The government remains bullish about the logistics of such a process, maintaining their stance that fixing the supply issue by building more houses is the greatest way to ease pressure.

But with a significant spike in immigration forecast at a rate that far outstrips the market's ability to build houses and rental prices rising even quicker, frustration with the seeming refusal to help middle-income earners now is growing, and there's a growing sense of doubt that the government's proposals will do anything to assist these growing pressures over the next 12 months.

What do you think? Do renters need to be more patient? Or is it time for the government to take a stronger stance on this key societal issue? Would a rent-freeze stop profiteering landlords? Does the industry need more regulation? Let us know below.