Cairns council scratches controversial investor rate hike

With Queensland’s rental crisis gripping Cairns, where vacancy rates haven’t risen above 0.8 per cent in two years and were recorded at 0.7 per cent during the December 2022 quarter, the state’s peak real estate body, the Real Estate Institute of Queensland (REIQ), has called the plan’s abolishment a “win for common sense.”

REIQ chief executive officer, Antonia Mercorella, believes the untimely proposal provoked concern for industry leaders and local property investors in a “challenging” period for Cairns’ renters desperately needing vital rental stock. 

Describing the institute’s involvement in the proposal’s rescindment, Ms Mercorella explained, “From the outset, our local zone chair for Cairns, Tom Quaid, highlighted that [it] was a very delicate spot to be poking and property investors would not take this quietly.” 

She positioned the REIQ’s role as “continually cautioning all levels of government about the dangers of overregulation and the increasing fees and taxes that everyday mum and dad investors are being hit with.”

“None of us are immune to the rising cost-of-living pressures such as rising interest rates, local government rates, and repairs and maintenance,” she added. 

“Rather than new fees, what we need is more investors to bring rental properties to the long-term market, and given the immediate need of the crisis, it’s time for the government to try taking a carrot approach rather than continually coming at investors with the stick,” she declared.

“We can only hope other local governments are watching carefully and taking note,” Ms Mercorella concluded.

Similar rules came into effect in Brisbane council during the middle of last year, with home owners within its jurisdiction charged 50 per cent higher fees if they rented their property on short-term rental accommodation platforms.

Cairns council’s proposal is the latest in a long line of Queensland regulatory attempts to increase costs faced by investors wishing to enter the state’s market, following the Palaszczuk government’s decision to implement surcharges on foreign investors, and calls by tenant advocates and the state government to introduce rental control, including rental caps, to help fight Queensland’s rental crisis.