Rent increases of

$200 a week - when you were only paying $200 before that? That's double what you were paying? 

I find that extraordinary but, unfortunately, I can also believe it. Middle Cat and I were discussing rent increases recently. Middle Cat and her partner have a rental property. It was bought as Middle Cat's "superannuation". It is there to help provide them with a "reasonable" life style when my BIL retires. 

My BIL does the maintenance at the rental property. It helps to keep the place in good, indeed excellent, condition. It also means they can keep the rent lower than it would otherwise be. At the moment the place is not actually making any money. They are still paying off the mortgage by using the rent...and topping it up themselves. 

"Why don't you just increase the rent?" they have been asked. They have been asked this more than once. It is what other people seem to expect.

Middle Cat's response is, "Because we have good tenants who pay us promptly and take care of the place." Yes, they might get more if they demanded it or they might show the tenants the door and put in people who paid more and cared less. Bad tenants might cost them in unpaid rents and damage to property. 

Admittedly they are fortunate in that my BIL is very capable. He can assess what needs to be done if there is an issue. Recently the fence between the property and that of the neighbours needed replacing. The owner of that property lives in Queensland during the winter months. My BIL sent photographs of the damage and suggested what might be done. No, we don't need to put in an entirely new fence. We can do this and that and something else. I can get the materials for $.... if we take advantage of the "sale" price and the cost will be about half of what the quote your tenant got for us. 

It took my BIL a day to do it one weekend and another the following weekend. One of the tenants helped - because it meant the rent would not be increased.

I know not everyone could do this. For many people rent is about income. It is about money here and now and not in the future but it still says something to me. The tenant who helped with the repair is going to remember, "I helped out so my rent has not increased. That makes it a bit easier for me and the family. It was worth doing. We will go on taking care of the place."

Homelessness is on the rise in this city. It should not be but it is. I know the reasons for this are complex but some of it has to be due to greed. It has to be because some people are asking for more rent and increases in rent than is justified. 

The $200 a week increase was apparently for a very small one bedroom flat in the city with no laundry or "pantry" (kitchen) facilities. Yes, there are two very small rooms and a bathroom of sorts.  There is nothing else. Paying $400 a week for that is outrageous here - but people will be doing that. They may well be four or five students crammed in together, simply using it as a place to sleep and wash. They will eat elsewhere, study elsewhere and work in menial jobs to pay the inflated rent.

I am relieved that Middle Cat and her partner were prepared to get less to get more in the end.  At the same time I wonder what will happen if the government brings in proposed rent freezes or restrictions on how much rent can be increased. Will they find themselves punished for doing the right thing?