Election Year
I expect we will have the usual prospect of all the prospective Members of Parliament and Parties looking for our votes, the question being what will they promise us as Owners of Residential Rental Investments.
Politicians have been talking about compulsory Methamphetamine Testing of all Rental Properties, they are still in the process, through a Committee, of deciding what levels are acceptable, how testing will be done and who should be doing that testing.
Some have been talking about having some sort of Warrant Of Fitness assessment done on every Property which would mean every rental property would also have to have some sort of Heating System built in along with a Ventilation System to go with the current Legislation for Insulation and Smoke Alarms.
Some Parties have talked about giving the Tenants more rights as far as length of tenure and notice periods go, they want Tenants to be able to rent for a minimum of a year and up to five years, only rent increases once a year and Owners must give a minimum of three months’ notice to vacate.
Others keep talking about Capital Gains Tax especially when you hear all of the stories of Investors flipping properties within a very short time of them buying them, some without even taking Possession of them for a very tidy profit.
Another issue that keeps coming up on a regular basis which effects our Business is around the regulation of Property Managers. There hasn’t been any Government Legislation overseeing Property Management since 2008 when they changed the Real Estate Agents Act and separated our Industry from Real Estate. Now anyone without any qualifications or experience can run a Property Management Business, without a Trust Account and without an independent Auditor overseeing Property Investors Rental Monies. We are still waiting to see how many Investors have to be stolen from before the law is changed.
These are some of the issues we will be bombarded with in the next few months and help you decide who you will or will not vote for.
Good luck and happy investing