GREEDY landlords have been warned not to exploit Sydney`s dire rental squeeze where desperate tenants are vying for only 739 available rental properties across the whole city.
Premier Nathan Rees has agreed to meet the Real Estate Institute for crisis talks as figures reveal vacancy rates have remained below 2 per cent for more than two years.
The situation is so bad that stressed-out renters have turned on real estate agents with one in three agents reporting either themselves or their staff have been abused and even attacked - the State Government today is appealling for calm.
Some agents said they had called police to remove irate would-be tenants from their offices and were being abused on a daily basis.
Others said tenants had been in tears because they felt they could not compete with the number of people looking for properties.
Police have also had to sort out traffic congestion as up to 30 or 40 applicants turn up for open house inspections.
"It is the worst we have ever seen," said REI president Steve Martin.
"The situation is now so grave we are unfortunately experiencing incidents of rental rage."
Housing Minister David Borger said today the situation should, however, not become cause for landlords to jack up rental prices unreasonably.
"It`s important that we react to the news today in a reasonable and calm way,`` Mr Borger said.
"What we don`t want is unscrupulous landlords jacking up rents unreasonably at the expense of tenants, that`ll just make the problem worse.``
"Today`s news is a sobering reminder of the pressures facing families and workers in NSW.``
Sydney`s overall vacancy rate is 1.2 per cent, no change from last month, according to the institute.
Worst hit have been the suburbs between 10 and 25km from the city centre where there was a 0.1 per cent drop in rental vacancies to 1.2 per cent over the past month.
Mr Martin said the demand for rental properties had outgrown supply by about three to one with Sydney`s population growing at more than 1400 a week, almost double the number of rental properties available on the latest figures.
Mortgage defaults have also forced more families into the rental market.
Punitive taxes including stamp duty and land tax, coupled with a lack of land being released for new development, have been blamed for the stagnating market.
The institute has proposed that the State Government scrap the contentious land tax and offer investors a full rebate of their stamp duty over seven years with a partial rebate if they sell before that.
A spokesman for Mr Rees said that they had already been in touch with the institute to arrange a meeting and to listen to their suggestions.
St Vincent de Paul Society`s Dr Andy Marks said the rental crisis was the hidden face of the housing affordability debate.
"Politicians focus on mortgage holders but we need to help people who can`t even get into the rental market, never mind the housing market," Dr Marks said.
Jane 7:23pm today Comment 110 "It would be interesting to see how many of us older generation started with renting" - This member of that generation bought my first house on the outskirts of Sydney at age 25 in 1973. For two years all we owned was a bed and refrigerator and one car. No TV, radio etc.Now I'm wealthy - the sacrifices were made in the early days. My son is doing the same, so I know it can still be done.
Posted by: RJ of Sydney 9:06pm today
Signifcant falls in areas close to capital cities will not happen!!There might be a small decrease or even idle movement in terms of price over the next few years, this is due to the limited availability of credit and for wages to increase.The fundamentals of the market are supply and demand driven. Australias population is tipped to reach 25 million in the coming years and these people will need a roof over their heads. many of them will choose to live near a capital city so i guess demand is going to increase, if not, rental demand will increase.There is a limited supply of property within 20km of capital cities and there is a great demand for these properties. This equation will NOT result in a significant price drop as dreamed up by Brett.
Posted by: Andrew of Melbourne 8:41pm today
Landlords are often portrayed as nasty,greedy orgres, but when tenants trash the property and then do a runner or claim fair wear and tear for $1000's in damage, who pays for it? The landlord!! Pathetic, disrespectful tenants must wear alot of the blame as well!!
Posted by: Bryan of QLD 8:39pm today
DanW.I would never accuse landlords of profiteering. I do know the numbers. But, my point was that the properties were there and vacant. Recently,my landlord (with whom I have a good relationship) was considering selling and I did the exercise of attending 5 open houses. 2 of those are still vacant. By your own statement, if properties don;t even make it to the internet etc, then there are many more than that. But even allowing for properties to be on the net that have applications pending etc, it is far more than the supposed 739 properties, which is also my point as well.
Posted by: Gavin of Parramatta 8:38pm today
I am a landlord and receive rent of $1,320 a month.I have borrowings of $375,000 with repyments over $3,000 per month and with tax deductions am still out of pocket and taking all the risks. The tenant is miles in front. I am doing it for my family for the future so why should I be out of pocket for someone else. Rents should cover all my outgoings as capital appreciation at present is not good.
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