An Aussie landlord has refused to drastically hike rents despite real estate agents pestering her to charge her tenants $100 more a week.
Michelle Schofield owns two properties in Queensland and NSW and explained she had constantly rejected calls to increase her rent, arguing she wanted to keep good tenants.
‘We’re not trying to grab the money and we want people to stay in the house,’ she told Yahoo.
She is a rarity among landlords during a crippling rental crisis, that has seen prospective tenants brave long queues to find somewhere to live, as landlords battle the most severe interest rate rises in a generation.
In the midst of Australia’s crippling rental crisis, the words of Ms Schofield (pictured) will be music to the ears of long-suffering tenants
Ms Schofield points the finger at money-grubbing real estate agents who continually want her to jack up her rent by $100 a week
She blamed money-grubbing property managers in the real estate sector who continually pressured her to raise rents by $100 a week.
‘Not all of us are greedy tyrants, some of us have compassion,’ she said.
Ms Schofield said she has kept the rent on her properties below what real estate agents recommended for the past three years.
With capital city rental vacancy rates is at a record-low of just one per cent, she is mindful of the pain tenants are suffering.
She also had advice for landlords who hiked their rent to cope with surging mortgage repayments, with investors now paying 68 per cent more a month than they did in May 2022.
‘I would suggest to landlords to have a bit of compassion or to delve into their real estate, and find out if they’re putting it up to equal or to above market,’ she said.
She believes if landlords showed more restraint this would help keep inflation at a reasonable level.
Inflation is at 3.6 per cent, even after the Reserve Bank of Australia raised interest rates 13 times in less than two years to tame price pressures, but rents in the year to March surged by 7.7 per cent.
In June last year, the Greens blocked Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s $10billion Housing Australia Future Fund unless he agreed to cap rents – a policy Ms Schofield opposes.
Only state governments, and not the commonwealth, have the power to regulate rents.
The party buckled months later to support the Housing Australia Future Fund after Labor agreed to an additional $3billion in spending.
‘I’ve kept my real estate below what (real estate agents) have suggested for the last three years,’ Ms Schofield said
With record rental prices across the nation, Canberra has bucked the trend and is actually cheaper (stock image)
Rental prices continue to remain high across Australia making it increasingly difficult for thousands of residents to keep a roof over their head.
Sydney’s median weekly rent surged by 10.2 per cent in the year to April to $1,053.56, new SQM Research data revealed.
Capital city house rents rose by 10.2 per cent in the year to April to $833 a week.
Melbourne’s median house rent rose by 11.4 per cent to $740.50.
But in Perth, rents have soared by 16.9 per cent to $782 as Adelaide rents surged by 10 per cent to $630.
Brisbane house rents went up by a more modest 6.6 per cent to $717.
Canberra rents edged up only slightly by 0.8 per cent to $773.
Rents, however, fell in Australia’s smallest capital cities, which aren’t receiving massive population growth from interstate or overseas migration.
Hobart rents dropped by 0.3 per cent over the year to $537 as Darwin rents fell 0.5 per cent to $718.