Key role investors play in rental crisis

Sunshine Coast property investment experts have revealed they are seeing more and more investors leaving the local housing market, at a time when the region is screaming out for rental properties.

Talking on the Homes for Everyone podcast, local female property developer and founder of WOW Property Women Lorna Willis said the red tape put on investors was forcing them to sell up.

“It’s really sad for me to see people I know who I’ve encouraged to set themselves up for the future to say it’s just too hard to own a rental property and they’re actually selling and getting out of the market,” she said.

“We have tarnished the name property investor or property developer, if we called them a housing provider it gives a whole other sentiment doesn’t it?”

Property investment specialist Linda Ireland agreed, and said the rising cost of property ownership is impacting investors deeply.

“A lot of investors are feeling the pinch and perhaps if they’ve gone out and got a second job to get that property for their future they’re now burnt out, they’re exhausted, they’re tired and they’re saying to themselves why am I doing this? It’s not feeling meaningful and good and this is causing a lot of pressure,” she said.

“These people, they are mums and dads, they do care and they do want to do good.”

Property investors currently house 7 million Australians, or 1.5 million Queenslanders. They are a key part of the answer to solving the housing crisis as they can deliver more rental homes quickly.

One Sunshine Coast man who is working with investors to be part of the solution in an affordable and environmentally friendly way is director of Timber Garden Cabins, Wolfgang Schulte.

“When you drive around town there’s so much space in backyards, you’ve got 600 square metre blocks or 700 or even 1000, and while there are restrictions with Council there is also a lot of opportunity to put a granny flat in those backyards,” he said.

In September 2022 the law changed in Queensland which means homeowners can now rent out granny flats to anyone, not just family members.

Mr Schulte has worked to raise awareness about this, as the log cabins can be constructed in as little as four months providing housing quickly.

“Some people say it’s not big enough, but for a single mum that’s a great place to live. The other solution is her living in a car or a caravan,” Mr Schulte said.

Direct Collective COO and Homes for Everyone founder Mal Cayley said every level of government needed to give investors more confidence to avoid them leaving the market.

“The problem is the lack of certainty and the lack of knowledge at all three levels of government – they are part of the biggest barrier of people wanting to do more.”

He commended Wolfgang for his initiative with Timber Garden Cabins.

“Without solutions like this, without people putting second dwellings on and looking for alternatives we’re in trouble, the government won’t meet the demand that exists already,” Mr Cayley said.

Homes for Everyone is calling for people to put their digital hand up in support by filling in the form at homesforeveryone.com.au so that the collective voice of the community can make real, positive changes.