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In the eyes of REIWA president Joe White, the role of Australia’s peak real estate body is often misconstrued. Yes, they offer listings portals and market commentary, but there is one unheralded facet of their work that is perhaps most important.
“Less well-known is our advocacy work,” he shared. In an often-muddled property climate, where many voices compete for many outcomes that often don’t arise, Mr White has stressed the importance of organisations such as the Real Estate Institute of Western Australia (REIWA).
“We play an important role as their trusted translator between the property sector and key decision-makers, including government ministers, their department, other members of Parliament, as well as community and industry stakeholders,” he explained.
It plays a vital role in the property ecosystem, with the best evidence of its industry pertinence occurring late last year on the other side of the country.
The Queensland government proposed a controversial land tax, with the state looking to charge land tax based on the total value of a property owner’s Australian holdings, as opposed to just those held in the Sunshine State.
However, strong opposition from many prominent property voices in the state, including Antonia Mercorella, the Real Estate Institute of Queensland’s (REIQ) chief executive officer, who labelled the tax a “rare beast”, eventually resulted in the controversial proposal’s abolishment.
As Mr White pointed out, “legislation can have far-reaching consequences”.
“Decision-makers need to be aware of what is happening on the ground and how policy may positively or negatively affect consumers and industry,” he considered, waving the example of the constant discourse around rent freezes and caps which has grown increasingly popular, especially from the Greens, in a climate of seemingly unstoppably rising rents.
While rent freezes may provide short-term, temporary reprieve from the ever-raging national rental crisis, Mr White indicated the real issue is supply-based.
“Demand is far outweighing supply [and] is being fueled by population growth,” he reaffirmed. “We’ve seen supply decline as investors leave the market.”
But with calls to introduce rent caps growing louder by the day, he is urging that a “balanced approach is needed from legislators”.
“Our market relies heavily on investors; they supply about 85 per cent of properties in the private rental market. They can easily put their money elsewhere, and they will,” he said.
Already the state has seen this reality unfold, when the COVID-19 moratorium was lifted and “investors voted with their feet and left the market in droves”, which Mr White said highlighted the concern investors have for legislation.
With the state moving to finalise the finer details of changes to the Residential Tenancies Act, despite assurances that no-grounds terminations won’t be removed and the state government won’t act on rent freezes, Mr White explained some worries have remained harboured for investors.
“They are still concerned by the potential changes regarding pets and modifications to rental properties,” he quipped.
REIWA’s advocacy work extends beyond issues related to the state’s rental market, with Mr White revealing the peak body is “also advocating for the need to boost housing supply and offer greater housing diversity”.
“The situation we’re facing now has been years in the making, and WA needs to maintain a consistent pipeline of new builds to meet the needs of our growing population.”
“Changes to legislation affect us all in some way. Advocacy may be a less visible part of REIWA’s role, but it is something we should all care about,” he concluded.
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