Disappointment at disjointed state and territory rental approach
Australian landlords and tenants could be treated differently during COVID-19 depending on their location in Australia, it’s been revealed, with an industry body now calling for a more “uniform” approach.
The Real Estate Institute of Australia’s (REIA) president Adrian Kelly has expressed his disappointment that “a uniform approach could not have been agreed to for all Australians”.
At the same time, he conceded that the federal government has dealt with a very complex situation in dealing with eight jurisdictions in the realm of residential real estate.
As a result, Mr Kelly said, “We now face the potential situation where Australians will be treated differently depending on where they reside.”
“This will add to the confusion, and most likely there will be the misinterpretation of messaging,” he considered.
The rationale that commercial tenancies has a “wide national impact, in this case, economic” is equally applicable to residential tenancies, the REIA president said.
“For residential, it is a social as well as economic impact – after all, we all live in dwellings and not all of us either own or lease commercial property.”
He said the “REIA requests that further consideration be given to a national approach to residential real estate”.