High-profile host of The Project Waleed Aly has pushed back on the Greens’ proposed rent freeze – which, if implemented, could have already saved Australian renters thousands of dollars.
Moving on to a tough segment The projectT On Thursday, Aly debated the founder of popular rental property review website S*** Rentals Jordan van den Berg, also known online as ‘Purple Pingers’.
Mr Van den Berg told The Project he is in favor of the rent freeze, showing the positive impact it would have on tenants’ lives.
‘It’s quite simple: give tenants some breathing room and let them spend money on something that is not an ever-increasing human right.
‘I know people who choose between medicine and their rent. You should never have to choose between these two basic things to live, or like putting food on the table for your family and things like that,” he said.
Aly agreed that no one should ever have to make the choice between medicine and rent, but at the time he challenged the proposed rent freeze.
He said evidence from around the world on the concept of a rent freeze is not so encouraging.
“In the US, the result was that many homes became uninhabitable as landlords subsequently filed insurance claims for damage,” he said.
High-profile host of The Project Waleed Aly has pushed back on the Greens’ proposed rent freeze, which could have already saved Australian renters thousands
In a lively segment of The Projet on Thursday, Aly debated the founder of popular rental property review website S*** Rentals Jordan van den Berg (pictured), also known online as ‘Purple Pingers’
Aly said there has been an increase in black market rent bidding, where the official rent is one thing and rent bidding takes place in the background.
He said the problems with rent freezes were not just limited to the US.
‘In Britain they found social segregation, so it just meant that landlords were giving all the properties to professional families without children, and it was actually the most deprived who were being passed over.
‘In Berlin there was a huge drop in rental supply. These are really serious side effects. Isn’t it a huge risk to just accept something like that?’
Mr Van den Berg disagrees and says that Aly does not compare.
“In Australia we have this culture of investing in housing, we’re not comparing the same government subsidies, the same demographic distribution, the same capital gains tax credits, the same negative concessions for investment.
“So in America, where those things don’t exist, by implementing a rent freeze we don’t have similar results,” he said.
Aly was convinced that a rent freeze could actually make the problem worse.
Mr Van den Berg countered that a rent freeze would deter people from becoming landlords.
‘Ultimately, even if you can charge a little less rent, you will achieve added value when you sell the house, that’s just how it works.
“But we also have to remember that this is not the only answer to the housing crisis, this is a small Band-Aid to put on a gaping flesh wound that we need to make do with long-term policy solutions,” he said. .
Mr Van den Berg emphasizes the urgency of implementing a rent freeze.
‘Tenants need immediate help now, so let’s work on the bigger picture.’