Australians will not be protected from rent gouging or other predatory landlord behaviour under a proposed government program to alleviate the housing crisis, advocates and experts say. The federal government's Build to Rent legislation is under the microscope after the Greens and opposition teamed up in June to send the bill to a Senate inquiry. The scheme would give investors extra tax incentives in a bid to build 150,000 extra rental homes.
But Karl Fitzgerald, director of community land trust advocacy group Grounded, says Build to Rent could pave the way for the corporatisation of the rental market. "This legislation rolls out the welcome mat for rent maximisation strategies," he told the inquiry on Wednesday. There are no protections for tenants in the bill, which means they could still receive steep rental increases.
For tenants at the Smith Collective, Australia's first large-scale build-to-rent project, rents have grown 50 per cent over two years. Similar to programs in the US and UK, the proposal also aims to increase foreign corporate investment in rental housing, which could reduce competition by pushing out mum-and-dad investors and lead to mass rental hikes. For example, a software program called YieldStar has been used by property investors to coordinate rental increases for 81 per cent of properties in Atlanta.
"There's nothing in this legislation that prepares us for what's coming," Mr Fitzgerald said. Foreign capital helps improve the housing landscape and ha.