The Real Estate Institute of New South Wales (REINSW) has blasted the NSW Government’s decision to extend its rental moratorium saying the timing, which coincides with the end of the banks’ loan repayment waiver, will create a ‘perfect storm’ and send many mums, dads and retirees ‘broke’.

REINSW CEO Tim McKibbin says contrary to the NSW Government’s obvious stereotyping, around 80 percent of landlords in New South Wales are mums and dads or self-funded retirees who are either paying off a single property investment or depend on it for income.

Now they are facing an even longer period of no income, more uncertainty and for many, financial ruin, he says.

“This is a case of logic being ignored, livelihoods being placed at unnecessary risk and, worryingly, a refusal to undertake the proper consultation.”

“How are these mum and dad investors, many who have lost their jobs, going to cope?

The banks have already made clear that the cold hard reality for many landlords is that they are going to have to sell their property to retire debt. The nest egg people have worked so hard to achieve, and have sacrificed so much for, will be lost,” says McKibbin.

“For the Minister to assert that the extension of the rental moratorium is in support of both tenants and landlords is grossly insulting. To date, the Government has provided the Tenants Union $13.5 million to assist tenants,” he says.

"Not one cent has been provided to assist landlords. It undermines the absolutely critical role landlords play in society: providing choices for people to have a roof over their heads."

“In the end, tenants will suffer too. Fewer properties available for rent at this incredibly delicate economic time pushes more people onto the streets,” says McKibbin.

The REINSW has called for an urgent review of this decision, adding that “We expected better from the NSW Government.”

Image: UNSW

Branko Miletic

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