Housing problems in Australia.

WELCOME TO OUR GENERAL BLOG YOU ARE INVITED. Today we are reposting some of those articles, that in a way can link to our main message about housing, where we will talk about the housing problems in Australia, the Social Security System, and the ASSETS TEST that can prevent the Social Security to be equal for everyone. And I believe that the assets test is the main problem, why today there are not enough rental properties on the market. 

This article can also be found at this link, Housing Problems in Australia, Article One. 

To read all the blogs of this selected group about rentals click on this link, http://menfranco.blogspot.com, 

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I belive that past politicians are to blame for today affordable rental problems, and they need to fix it. 

Some people are lucky and can have a house like this. Now, this is a beautiful house, and I have to say that this house is here just to show you a beautiful house. Very likely it has a rich owner that lives in it, and it is not for rent. But you can dream about it, and rent or buy a house that you can afford. 

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NOTE, ARTICLE No: 12. 

This article is the twelveth article of a group of articles, about Australia housing problems and its cause and remedy discussions. We are reposting some articles to show you, what we believe is the cause of the rental shortage in Australia. You see, the Australian Social Security System fails to help the farmers, because of the assets test, and fails and punishes the small rental investors, because of the ASSETS TEST, that is the only reason I can see, why today there are not enough rental properties on the market. So, to solve the housing problem, the politicians need to abolish or reset the ASSETS TEST at least to the same level or below, what people can lose from their pensions or other benefits. Also, to solve the housing problem, the politicians must find grounds to work together with the private sector, and definitely not against the private sector. But today, from what they are doing, they seem to say that the private sector is their enemy, when the private sector is only running a rental service to the community. 

Housing Problems in Australia, Article One.

Welcome to our article, Housing Problems in Australia, Article One. 

Dear readers, I want to inform you that I have followed the rental market for a long time, and I have written several articles about it, pointing out what I think is wrong with it. I have done that, hoping that someone in power takes notes of what I am saying, and does something about it, but so far nothing has happened. Anyhow, I will continue to write more article, hoping that something positive happens, so, let me go on writing. 

Today in Australia, there are less properties for rent, and this is causing problems to people that are renting. So, we want to look at the reasons why this shortage is happening, because in the past, rentals somehow found their own balance, and this problem was less acute, so to speak.  

Now, if we want to know why this is happening, the best way is to do it, is to look at how the whole country is supposed to be run, and then, when we find the reason that has caused the rental shortage, we can suggest what could be done to fix it.

I suppose that if you have had something to do in renting a property, you can already guess, what the reasons of this rental shortage are. But here we need to look at those reasons closely, to make sure that what we are saying is correct.

So, let us look at how the Australian economy is run. Australia is a free democratic country, and the economy is run freely from all individuals. Now what happens in a free economy, is that all individuals are free to do what they want, but at the same time they are competing with other individuals that do the same thing, so, the price becomes set from the supply and demand market, and those individuals that are competing to sell the product they produce.

Of course, whatever business you are in and whatever you sell, you need to make some money to be in business, if there is not enough money the business you are running cannot survive, and you are forced to close whatever you are doing. I am saying this because, this is what happens in a capitalist economy. And this is good because the economy finds its own ways how to set the price and survive. But sometimes things do not run the way they are supposed to run, and we can have problems, like the problem we are having now with rental properties, so, let us look at what is happening, because there is always a way how to improve the situation.  

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Now let us look at rental properties. 

Having said that Australia uses a capitalist system to run the economy, now let us look at what is happening in the rental market, and why today there are not enough properties for rent.

Now what I am saying hereunder is the way I remember, I remember this well because I have followed the rental market during my life, so, I remember that rents have always gone up, just like everything else. This was until the year 2010 or so, and since the year 2010 rents have not gone up as much as everything else, so, today rents need to go up, to reach the level where investors think that they can run a rental business without losing money. But the people that are renting do not see this need, and they think that they are paying too much rent already. Perhaps thy are used to cheap rentals, and now the rents are going up, so, they are complaining about it, and they say that they cannot afford to pay the rent. So, this rental problem is becoming a huge problem, and nobody seems to have a good lasting solution.

Today, some political parties want to freeze the rent, others want to put a ceiling how much the rent can be increased, the present government want to build lots of affordable rental run from the government, and many other things. The only thing they are not talking about, is why there are not enough affordable rental properties on the market. So, let me explain what the reasons are.

I start believing that the reason for this rental shortage, can be attributed to the failure of the government for not making balanced laws for rental properties, and charging the present property owners high levies.

You see, properties owners can be said that they are running a service for the community, and if you run a service, you must make some money, otherwise you are forced to close. Here we can say that this is what has been happening, and for this reason, today there are not enough rental properties on the market. We can add here that a democratic capitalist country, will always find ways how to supply, what needs to be supplied, unless there are laws that stops them earning enough money to run their business.   

Here I must say, that if the government in charge want to solve the rental problems, they must make better laws that aim to help to property owners to balance their housing business better. If they do that, then in a few years there will be enough housing on the market, and the problem is solved.

I believe that this article is becoming too long, so, to explain my point of view I will write more articles. But before I sign off, I want to say that to start improving the situation, the government of the day must make sure that the Social Security System must be equal for everyone, and they could start by abolishing the ASSETS TEST on affordable rental properties, because the assets test discriminates and scares off most small investors, that could otherwise have a property for rent. We are trying to pass this message to evryone, but nobody seems to get it. Anyhow we will continue next time with another article, Australia Housing Problems, Two. 

To see more click on this link, Housing Problems in Australia, Article One.

See you next time.  

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 NOTE. This article above, is the link to the following article, Australia housing problems two. This article is also the twelveth article of a group of articles that we want to publish. The aim of these articles is to show you that, the Australian governments can fix these existing problems, if they run a better Social Security System that fails to help those that need their help. And we believe that it must be equal for everyone. The greatest problem is created by the assets test anomalies, so, the ASSETS TEST must be abolished or adjusted, so that those anomalies are eliminated.  Because it is not fair to the pensioners, and this is one of the reasons why, there are not enough rental properties on the market, since the pensioners, are forced to sell out to receive their pension. Anyhow, here the greatest problem is the politicians that do not want to see it that way, and they make laws that would stop anybody to invest in rental properties, when they need the private sector to invest in the rental market, so, the politicians need to make laws that helps the private sector invest in rental properties. So, let me explain.  

For me there are three main things that the government can do, to come out of this rental crisis: give more rent assistance to the low income earners, abolish the assets test on affordable rental properties and low other levies, so that the small investors can keep renting at affordable price, and stop foreign ownership on rental properties, that is pushing real estate prices up, and the rental market must follow to go up, because the properties cost more. 

Some politician believe that the government should build, affordable rental units to solve this rental crisis, but for the government, to build an infinite number of affordable rental units, is not practical, because it will cost the tax payers several times more than helping the present rental set up, as we have suggested above.  

To read all the blogs of this selected group click on this link, http://menfranco.blogspot.com,

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How to fix the housing disaster.

WELCOME TO OUR GENERAL BLOG YOU ARE INVITED. Today we are reposting some of those articles, that in a way can link to our main message about housing, where we will talk about the housing problems in Australia, the Social Security System, and the ASSETS TEST that can prevent the Social Security to be equal for everyone. And I believe that the assets test is the main problem, why today there are not enough rental properties on the market. 

This article can also be found at this link,  How to Fix the Housing Disaster, My Views.

To read all the blogs of this selected group about rentals click on this link, http://menfranco.blogspot.com, 

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I belive that past politicians are to blame for today affordable rental problems, and they need to fix it. 

Today Australia rental market has a problem, there is not enough rental houses on the market. This has happened also in the past, but not to the same extend. So, we start wondering what went wrong, and how it can be fixed, at the same time, we should ask ourselves what is the reason, so that we do not make the same mistake again. 

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NOTE, ARTICLE No: 11. 

This article is the eleventh article of a group of articles, about Australia housing problems and its cause and remedy discussions. We are reposting some articles to show you, what we believe is the cause of the rental shortage in Australia. You see, the Australian Social Security System fails to help the farmers, because of the assets test, and fails and punishes the small rental investors, because of the ASSETS TEST, that is the only reason I can see, why today there are not enough rental properties on the market. So, to solve the housing problem, the politicians need to abolish or reset the ASSETS TEST at least to the same level or below, what people can lose from their pensions or other benefits. Also, to solve the housing problem, the politicians must find grounds to work together with the private sector, and definitely not against the private sector. But today, from what they are doing, they seem to say that the private sector is their enemy, when the private sector is only running a rental service to the community. 

Welcome to our article,  How to Fix the Housing Disaster, My Views.

Dear readers, before I can say anything about Australia rental problem, we must look at what the politicians are doing to fix it, and if we believe that what they are doing can fix it. We need also to look at what is happening in the rental market. So, let us paste some reports that I found in the net, the 8^th of June 2023, in this shortened quote hereunder.   

(And I quote)

Sydney's inner-city market has seen the biggest surge in rents with Treasury expecting a record 400,000 migrants to move to Australia by the end of this financial year, followed by 315,000 in 2023-24.

The city was home to nine of Australia's top 10 suburbs for rental increases, with Melbourne having one entry. 

Sydney was a city of extremes with rents soaring near the city but falling in scenic areas by the water, including on the Central Coast an hour's drive north. 

Rental increases of more than 20 per cent were recorded in parts of Brisbane, with double-digit increases also occurring in Perth and Adelaide.

(End of first quote)

Looks like that everywhere in Australia the house rent is going up. So, let us see what the politicians are doing, to solve the problem, if they can solve it.

Anyhow, the present government, believes that they can solve it buy building more affordable housing themselves, with our taxpayer money. See what I found on the net, and quote again.

The federal government has confirmed it will divvy up its $2 billion social housing booster payment to Australia's states and territories on a per capita basis.

• NSW will receive the lion's share of $510 million, Victoria will get $496m, Queensland $398m and Western Australia $209m.
• South Australians will see $135m of the money, while Tasmania, the Northern Territory and the ACT will take minimum slices of $50m each.
• The funds will be allocated over the next fortnight.
• Thousands of new homes will be created for public housing tenants with both new developments and upgrades of existing properties that are currently uninhabitable on the drawing board.
• All of the money is to be committed by states and territories within two years ending June 30, 2025.
• Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced the Social Housing Accelerator at the Victorian Labor conference on Saturday.
• He did not specify exactly how many homes would be created, saying that would depend on how governments chose to spend the money.

"State and territory governments have agreed that it will be in perpetuity, so we're not going to have public housing built and then flogged off," he told reporters.

(End of the quote) Now let us say something how we see this situation.)

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How I see Australia rental situation. 

From what is happening is very clear that there are not enough rental properties available in Australia. Here we must point out that the Australian economy is set to run with the capitalist system, and in normal times is self-regulate itself, so, there is no need to do anything, but this time something went wrong, so let us try to explain the way we see it.

One of the reasons for this rental shortage is that for the past ten years or longer, the rents have not gone up as much as other things, so, the few small investors that were investing in rental properties, have stopped investing, because they cannot make any money. The people in charge must understand that they have created this problem themselves, because of the several charges levied on property owners, and this includes rental properties, some of these charges are completely unjust, but they say that they must do that because they need the money, so, this problem has been created from the authorities in charge, and now they are looking for a way out. But what they are trying to do may not be the right way to solve the problem for good, like building some affordable rentals themselves.

But I believe that this rental problem cannot be solved for good, unless they fix what has caused it first. Anyhow, the government wants to build affordable housing, that they are going to pay with the taxpayer money. This may help, but it will not solve the problem, they must understand, that if the private investors are not able to run rental properties and make money, then the government body that is going to run affordable rentals, can only run them at a loss, I hope I have explained my views clearly.

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But what are the main causes. 

As we have said, there are not enough affordable rental properties for rent, because there is not enough money in rentals, if there was enough money, there would be investors. So, it is not what people believe that if you have a rental property, you are rich. In fact, I believe that if you have rental properties, you and your family have lost your freedom, and you feel that you are the slave of the tenants. This is only the first problem, because the biggest problem is how much money does this property make, and how it affects everybody in the family, which usually will be negative. So, let us explain how it affect property owners in a negative way.

Now, if you rent the property yourself, it is like being on call all the time, and you have to solve all the problems yourself, and sometims it can be frustrating; if you give it to an agent, it will cost you money, and that is not all. If you are a pensioner, you may lose part of your government pension, and in some case the entire pension, because of the assets test. The assets test is the biggest problem for a lot of people, the greatest problem for the pensioners’ is that the assets test is set at least three time too high. So, for every dollar you can earn from the rental property, you very likely will lose fortnightly three dollars of government pension, this is one of the reasons why, there are no more small investors, wanting to invest in rental properties. I hope that I have explained myself clearly.

Now, the assets test affects other people as well in a negative way, like jobseeker and sick people, and other groups as well. So, it would be helpful if the government removes the assets test, or adjusts it in a more realistic way, that will reflect the same values for everybody. But let us go back to talk about rentals.

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How can we fix the rental shortage. 

To fix the rental shortage, not only the government should build affordable rental properties, and run them the best way they can, even if they lose money. But above all they should abolish the assets test or set it up in a way that the property owners can earn the same money they can lose. You see, the property owners that we call landlords run a service to the community, and if you run a service you are supposed to earn some money. If you do not earn money, then this service becomes impossible to run. I hope you see what we mean.    

So, it seems to me that we need more money for rentals, and it would help if they gave more rent assistance to the tenants that are on low income, instead of blaming the landlords, that sometimes are worse of financially than the tenants.   

Anyhow, if what I have suggested can be done, then the rental market can slowly return to normal. If they do not, then the rental problem will be a lot harder to solve.

Well, this is what we have learned so far, and every day that I write something about rental, I will learn a bit more. So, the advice now is to abolish the ASSETS TEST ON AFFORDABLE RENTAL, and things will improve. 

Anyhow, we will continue to write more articles about rentals, but this article is becoming too long. So, see you in our next article, Housing Problems in Australia, Article One. 

To see more click on this link,  How to Fix the Housing Disaster, My Views.

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 NOTE. This article above, is the link to the following article, Housing problems in Australia, article one. This article is also the eleventh article of a group of articles that we want to publish. The aim of these articles is to show you that, the Australian governments can fix these existing problems, if they run a better Social Security System that fails to help those that need their help. And we believe that it must be equal for everyone. The greatest problem is created by the assets test anomalies, so, the ASSETS TEST must be abolished or adjusted, so that those anomalies are eliminated.  Because it is not fair to the pensioners, and this is one of the reasons why, there are not enough rental properties on the market, since the pensioners, are forced to sell out to receive their pension. Anyhow, here the greatest problem is the politicians that do not want to see it that way, and they make laws that would stop anybody to invest in rental properties, when they need the private sector to invest in the rental market, so, the politicians need to make laws that helps the private sector invest in rental properties. So, let me explain.  

For me there are three main things that the government can do, to come out of this rental crisis: give more rent assistance to the low income earners, abolish the assets test on affordable rental properties and low other levies, so that the small investors can keep renting at affordable price, and stop foreign ownership on rental properties, that is pushing real estate prices up, and the rental market must follow to go up, because the properties cost more. 

Some politician believe that the government should build, affordable rental units to solve this rental crisis, but for the government, to build an infinite number of affordable rental units, is not practical, because it will cost the tax payers several times more than helping the present rental set up, as we have suggested above.  

To read all the blogs of this selected group click on this link, http://menfranco.blogspot.com,

---------------------------------- 

Housing disaster in Australia.

WELCOME TO OUR GENERAL BLOG YOU ARE INVITED. Today we are reposting some of those articles, that in a way can link to our main message about housing, where we will talk about the housing problems in Australia, the Social Security System, and the ASSETS TEST that can prevent the Social Security to be equal for everyone. And I believe that the assets test is the main problem, why today there are not enough rental properties on the market. 

This article can also be found at this link, Housing Disaster in Australia and What Can Be Done.

To read all the blogs of this selected group about rentals click on this link, http://menfranco.blogspot.com, 

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I belive that past politicians are to blame for today affordable rental problems, and they need to fix it.  

I was hoping that the federal budget would do something about the rental crisis, but the budget of 2023 has done nothing for the housing market, they knew that there are problems to be solved, but they only promised that they will build affordable rental themselves. but the problem is larger than that, and today it is even worse, because they cannot get started, since the greens are not passing the budget. 

NOTE, ARTICLE No: 10. 

This article is the tenth article of a group of articles, about Australia housing problems and its cause and remedy discussions. We are reposting some articles to show you, what we believe is the cause of the rental shortage in Australia. You see, the Australian Social Security System fails to help the farmers, because of the assets test, and fails and punishes the small rental investors, because of the ASSETS TEST, that is the only reason I can see, why today there are not enough rental properties on the market. So, to solve the housing problem, the politicians need to abolish or reset the ASSETS TEST at least to the same level or below, what people can lose from their pensions or other benefits. Also, to solve the housing problem, the politicians must find grounds to work together with the private sector, and definitely not against the private sector. But today, from what they are doing, they seem to say that the private sector is their enemy, when the private sector is only running a rental service to the community. 

Welcome to our article, Housing Disaster in Australia and What Can Be Done.

Dear readers, we are posting these articles, to let you know our views about this rental problem. So, we can say that today to buy or rent a residential property in Australia is not easy. Yes, we had these same problems in the past, but it was not as bad as now.

So, we must look for the reasons why this is happening. I believe that, for this to happen there must be negative forces that keeps the housing supply not growing fast enough to keep pace with what is needed. So, what can be done, we may ask?

To ease the rental market, the federal government, and the local governments must start building lots of affordable rentals, and rent them at no profit, or at a loss, this will help to keep the price of rental down. But this by itself will not be sufficient to solve the rental problem. So, what else needs to be done urgently to make it better? I believe that they need help from the private investors, but most investors are not interested in having affordable rental properties, because there are lots of problems running them and not enough money, compared to other available investments.

Therefore, the governments involved should make and pass laws that will help to private investors to build and own properties, at a moderate profit. You see, nobody wants to be involved, if there is nothing for them, especially if they can lose their hard-earned money, if they are not careful. Having said that, now, let us talk about this rental problem.

 

 Let us talk about the rental problem.

We believe that, TO SOLVE THE RENTAL PROBLEM, THE ASSETS TEST ON RENTAL PROPERTIES MUST BE REMOVED. Because it cuts down the pension three times more than what they can earn from the pension. 

As we have said above, today to buy or rent a residential property in Australia is not easy, because there are negative forces, that keep the housing market down, so, hereunder I want to say what I believe needs to be done as soon as possible, to stop this rental disaster becoming worse. One of the negative forces is the ASSETS TEST. And it needs to be removed. 

Anyhow, it seems to me that we need to build lots of new houses and rental properties. The problem today is that everything is going up in price, and there seems to be a shortage of builder and building tradesman. There are a few building firms that are going broke, so, this problem is going to take time to solve, but it can be solved, if we look at the reasons why this has happened, in the first place, and the politicians change the laws that need to be changed.  

Anyhow, as we have said the federal government, and the local governments must start building lots of affordable rentals, and rent them at no profit, or at a loss, this will help to keep the price of rental down.

But this will not be sufficient. And we will soon see that, when some figures of what they can build and what they need come out. Therefore, I believe that they need help from the private investors, but most investors are not interested in having affordable rental properties, because there are lots of problems running them, a lot of levies to pay, and not enough money, compared to other available investments.

Today there are still a few old timers that have affordable rental properties for rent, but they are slowly giving it away, because of what they cost to run and because they are being discriminated. They are being discriminated on two fronts. One most people hate landlords, because the people that rent think that they are paying their rent to a rich person, when in most cases the owners are financially struggling to keep the rental business going. Then there all these charges from local authority to pay, one of these is the land tax that gives you nothing, but because you own this land you must pay them. This is like paying the stamp duty every year, like when you buy a property. All these charges plus maintenance, there will not be much profit left to run the property. The other problem is that, if you have a property for rent, everybody thinks that you are a rich person, when in fact this is far from the truth, as we will explain hereunder.

Let us talk about running rental properties. 

Now let us talk about those people that have a house for rent or a couple of units. If they are pensioners they might lose their entire government pension, because of the assets test, when their properties can only earn a few hundred dollars after all expenses are paid. Which most likely is under 2% of the property value, according to today market. THIS IS THE REASON WHY, THE ASSETS TEST ON AFFORDABLE RENTAL PROPERTIES MUST BE REMOVED. If that is not removed nobody will want to save money to buy a rental property for financial security when they become old, and those that have a rental property will want to sell them, because they cannot afford to keep them, they are losing money.

Now, you must understand that to solve this rental problem, we need the private people to invest on affordable rental properties, so, there need to be a small incentive, or at least some security that they are not going to lose their money, Australia needs those investors, because the governments will never be able to build and run affordable rental properties for everyone.

ANYHOW, IT CAN BE A LOT CHEAPER IF THE ASSETS TEST ON AFFORDABLE RENTAL PROPERTIES IS REMOVED.

Anyhow, if the assets test on affordable rental is removed, then investors may still try to own a property for rent, instead of keeping their money it in the bank earning interest, or some investment that earns money, and you do not have to do anything.

Today views on rental properties. 

You see, today people think that those people that have no house, are the people that have been hit the hardest from this changing economy; but I believe that, it is the small residential investor has been hit the hardest from the changes. Because the small investor is being put in a disadvantaged position, not only they are in a disadvantaged position, but they also can be abused from the tenants. But what hurts most is that the government treats them as if they are rich people, when some of them are financially worse off than the tenants they are housing.

Because the tenants that are on a low income, can receive rent assistance from the government. But the landlords cannot receive any help from the government, because of the assets test threshold, even when their properties income is very low and they may be starving, so, we may say that they are being discriminated. 

Anyhow, because I want this article to carry the message that THE ASSETS TEST ON OFFORDABLE RENTAL PROPERTIES MUST BE REMOVED. I am not going to explain how the landlords of affordable rental properties are worse off than their tenants. But later I will write another blog to explain that. 

Now, in this article we have said that to overcome the housing shortage in Australia, the governments must build lots of affordable rentals, and rent them at no profit or at a loss.

We have also said that the governments need help from the private investors, but the rich private investors cannot be interested in affordable rentals, because there are lots of problems and not enough money, so, it is up to the mums and dads the small investors. But they are put in a disadvantaged position from the assets test. So, THE ASSETS TEST MUST BE REMOVED, or perhaps reset at a lower rate that reflects what those rental properties can earn. Instead of their imaginary and impossible 7.5 % when those properties may only earn about 2% or less net.

I believe that the rental market can be fixed, if the people in charge make laws that do not discriminate the small investors. Starting by REMOVING THE ASSETS TEST on affordable rentals, or modifying it to the right level, where the owners do not lose money, if they are on a government pension, or they are jobseekers, or disabled. I hope I have explained it clear enough. You see nobody wants to be involved if they can lose money. 

Anyhow, this article is becoming too long, so, see you in our next article,  How to Fix the Housing Disaster, My Views.  

To see more click on this link, Housing Disaster in Australia and What Can Be Done.

See you soon. 

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 NOTE. This article above, is the link to the following article, How to fix the housing disaster my views. This article is also the tenth article of a group of articles that we want to publish. The aim of these articles is to show you that, the Australian governments can fix these existing problems, if they run a better Social Security System that fails to help those that need their help. And we believe that it must be equal for everyone. The greatest problem is created by the assets test anomalies, so, the ASSETS TEST must be abolished or adjusted, so that those anomalies are eliminated.  Because it is not fair to the pensioners, and this is one of the reasons why, there are not enough rental properties on the market, since the pensioners, are forced to sell out to receive their pension. Anyhow, here the greatest problem is the politicians that do not want to see it that way, and they make laws that would stop anybody to invest in rental properties, when they need the private sector to invest in the rental market, so, the politicians need to make laws that helps the private sector invest in rental properties. So, let me explain.  

For me there are three main things that the government can do, to come out of this rental crisis: give more rent assistance to the low income earners, abolish the assets test on affordable rental properties and low other levies, so that the small investors can keep renting at affordable price, and stop foreign ownership on rental properties, that is pushing real estate prices up, and the rental market must follow to go up, because the properties cost more. 

Some politician believe that the government should build, affordable rental units to solve this rental crisis, but for the government, to build an infinite number of affordable rental units, is not practical, because it will cost the tax payers several times more than helping the present rental set up, as we have suggested above.  

To read all the blogs of this selected group click on this link, http://menfranco.blogspot.com,

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