Real estate veteran warns 2yr leases ‘will destroy rental supply’

The ACTU wants a national standard forcing landlords to offer minimum two year leases. It sounds like security. In practice, it is supply destruction dressed up as tenant protection. I run one of Queensland’s largest property management operations, around 3,000 rental properties across the Logan, Brisbane, Springfield and Ipswich corridor. Here is what the proposal looks like from inside the market, not the press release. RELATED: Australia named a top ‘forever renter’ nation as house prices outpace incomes Revealed: Brisbane’s top suburbs for rental yield as investor focus shifts Avi Khan, Ray White AKG CEO. Image supplied. The market already delivers long tenancies where they work. Most of our tenants stay well beyond two years. Not because a law forced it, but because vacancy is the most expensive event in property management. Good landlords fight to keep good tenants. A mandate only binds the cases where it doesn’t fit: the owner selling in 12 months, the family moving back in, the renovation cycle. Force those properties into two year terms and they leave the rental pool entirely. Some sell. Some go short stay, where no tenancy law touches them. The risk is asymmetric. These p...