Greens unveil policy designed to freeze rents at January 2023 levels in battle for Brisbane city council
‘If you put up the rent, we’ll put up your rates,’ the Greens’ Brisbane lord mayor candidate, Jonathan Sriranganathan, said.‘If you put up the rent, we’ll put up your rates,’ the Greens’ Brisbane lord mayor candidate, Jonathan Sriranganathan, said.The announcement on Monday will be a centrepiece of the Greens’ campaign for the Brisbane city council, a city where nearly four in 10 homes are occupied by renters.
“Our message to landlords is pretty straightforward: if you put up the rent, we’ll put up your rates,” the Greens’ candidate for lord mayor, Jonathan Sriranganathan, said.The policy would be designed to run for two years, and would require landlords to keep rents at or below January 2023 levels. Those who don’t would be subject to a new rates category – “uncapped rental home” – and would be charged 750% of the standard rates bill.The Greens have already announced a further crackdown on Airbnb –banning properties being rented out for short-term accommodation for more than 45 days a year – and a “vacancy levy” on properties left empty for more than six months.“The LNP council will tell renters there is nothing they can do to stop unlimited rent increases,” he said.
“This is not true – they are just more concerned with the profits of property developers than they are about people who are sleeping in their cars or tents right now, or those who are one rent increase away from eviction.
For a detached house with a $3,000 a week rates bill, if the landlord increased the rent by $100 a week – $5,200 a year – the extra rates would amount to $19,500.