Are mum and dad investors ‘a threatened species’?

Acknowledging his own 50-plus years of property investment experience, Mr Young is of the belief that “now is the toughest time for ordinary mum and dad investors to own a rental property”.

He noted that there are over 2.84 million private rental properties in Australia, according to the latest 2021 census data, with mum and dad investors currently supplying more than 90 per cent of national rental stock.

But, he warned that “between government red tape and ever-increasing regulations, combined with the constant threats of removing incentives such as negative gearing, mum and dad investors now feel like they are a threatened species.”

That’s not being helped by governments’ “bending over backwards” decisions to give big tax incentives to multinational companies to construct build-to-rent projects, proposals he calls “madness” and only a quick fix.

“These products are totally unsuitable as a long-term solution to Australia’s need and they risk turning into ghettos as they are managed overseas,” he warned, explaining that the tax incentives suck money out of Australia rather than incentivising local mum and dad investors.