The Rental Shortage We Deserve

There are many unhappy aspects of the rental shortage crisis that has afflicted Australia for several years and is likely to continue for many years into the future.

But the saddest thing of all about this unprecedented calamity is that Australia deserves the pain it’s experiencing on this issue.

Firstly, there’s the old adage that we get the politicians we deserve.

And the politicians we’ve elected – at both state and federal levels - have created the rental shortage through a series of bad policies.

They keep making it worse with further unhelpful decisions.

The problem has been exacerbated by news media and by the attitudes of many citizens.

It’s a sad truth in Australia that when a serious problem arises, it’s very rare that we find and implement solutions.

What we do, instead, to identify scapegoats - usually unfairly and inaccurately.

Then we demonize the people we have decided to blame for the problem.

But we don’t fix the problem. The demonizing of the wrong people usually makes it worse.

So it is with the rental shortage crisis.

The extreme under-supply has been created because fewer and fewer people want to be landlords.

And why would you? 

You have to pay taxes no one else pays, like land tax and capital gains tax, you have to pay higher council rates, higher stamp duty, higher interest rates and higher insurance premiums.

Every time a state government changes the rental laws, they are grossly biased towards tenants and often completely disregard the rights and needs of the people who own the properties that people rent.

Meanwhile, investor owners are vilified and demonized by dishonest politicians and journalists for whom the truth is optional while they’re espousing their personal viewpoints dressed up as news.

And, on the sidelines, large sections of the media and small-minded citizens cheer enthusiastically, while complaining about the rental shortage.

One journalist who got it right recently was the personal finance writer for The Australian, Anthony Keane, who commented that owning an investment property in this country has now become a source of stigma and shame.

He wrote: “Buying an investment property used to make me feel proud, but now it borders on shame. Surely, that’s not how we want Australians to feel for trying to build financial security and reduce their reliance on welfare later in life.”

He also commented: “Chopping down tall poppies can be a national pastime, but ATO figures show that most of Australia’s rental property owners have just one property. Many are teachers, nurses, police officers and emergency service workers. Since when did they become tall poppies?” he said.

Some people try to be tall by cutting off the heads of others. In other words, as Anthony Keane pointed out, we’re talking about the tall poppy syndrome and the politics of envy.

For many Australians, if they observe others apparently doing better than they are, they will support policies to squash those people.

Apparently, they are unaware that this is what has created the rental shortage and the rising rents that everyone is complaining about.

Which I why I say that, sadly, Australia has got the housing crisis it deserves.

Until the nation changes its attitudes, this problem will not only continue, but get worse.

Sooner or later, Australia will have to acknowledge that investors are not the problem, they are the solution.