Rental ramblings and life after ‘the brother’s house’

MY YOUNGEST son is a gentle giant but I saw a different side to him last weekend.

We were talking about rent and rent increases when his eyes narrowed and he clenched his fists.

“Why are landlords allowed to increase the rent when a tenant is on a fixed term and just re-signing,” he said.

“The property is the same as it was when they moved in and the tenant is not suddenly getting more for their money, it’s price gouging and outright robbery.”

He was living in a small two bedroom apartment on the Gold Coast with his two older brothers.

He moved out of home three years ago at 20 years old.

Three years was long enough to form an opinion on the cost-of-living and rent payments.

“At first our rent increased by $25 a week every six months, when we signed the first lease it was $460 a week and now it is $660 a week,” he said.

When rental increase laws passed, it became illegal for rent to increase less than 12 months into a fixed term tenancy.

If you sign a six month tenancy agreement and re-sign after six months, the landlord has to wait before upping the price.

“When I signed the lease they needed bank statements, employment records and all sorts of proof that I could afford to live there,” he said.

“Then with intimate knowledge of my financial situation they keep upping the rent.

“How are people my age ever going to get into the property market when increases make it hard to budget.

“And it is not just the additional rent that has to be paid, we have to pay off an increased bond as well.”

He had a point because the market is skewed towards landlords and real estate agencies and while there are many ethical ones out there, the Gold Coast seems to have more than its share of ones that charge like a wounded bull.

I had no answers for him because I’d experienced the same.

We rented a house in the Gold Coast hinterland and it was the same pattern with lease re-signings including a rent increase, without fail.

When I was told our rent would increase from $650 to $750 a week it was a shock because a $100 a week increase is significant.

The new rental laws weren’t yet in place but there were rumblings of discontent among renters calling for change.

I phoned a government affiliated tenant advocacy group for advice, certain the realtors were pulling a swifty.

But no, the increase had to be in line with the housing market, and the market was showing median rental prices in our area were around that figure.

It didn’t matter that the house had several issues we were expected to work around and requests for repairs took ages to be completed, if at all.

We were not paying for a better house, we were paying because it was legal for an increase to happen.

“I want to buy property one day and I want to start off with a small studio apartment just to get my foot in the door,” my son continued.

“I work full-time and still can’t afford to save while paying my portion of rent.

“It is the same with most of my friends, they have to rent and that keeps going up making it impossible to save.”

I know there are other reasons why a landlord increases rent and not everyone does it just because they can.

Sometimes their expenses have increased because of taxes, mortgage and rate rises.

This month two of my sons moved into new accommodation.

My 23-year-old moved to NSW and into a house owned by a couple he’s known for a long time.

They are going to help him to save and finally get a foot into the property market.

My 27-year-old is moving to New Zealand to be with his Kiwi girlfriend and my 29-year-old is moving in with us while he completes his studies to become a doctor of medicine.

They are no longer housed in a two bedder with a third bedroom made using room dividers in the lounge room.

It was a tiny apartment and they lived in each other’s pockets for a significant time while navigating life as adults and learning how to be financially responsible.

Raging over rent increases or water bills that make no sense is over for now and they take with them the adventures of living in ‘the brother’s house’.

No doubt many poor decisions were made under that roof but I’ll never know because ‘what happens in the brother’s house, stays in the brother’s house’, or so they say.

It was a little bit like ‘The Hangover’ movies where Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis, Ed Helms, Justin Bartha and Ken Jeong got up to no good during a bender in Las Vegas.

I miss them being a 90-minute drive away but understand they’ve grown up and need to spread their wings.

Life has plenty of experiences and adventures in store for them, I just hope that doesn’t include Mike Tyson or a tiger.