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NEGATIVE IDEA WOULD HIT RENTERES

Released 10 March 2008 

Reports that the population of Sydney is growing at more than twice the rate it was four years ago should silence any calls to remove or restrict negative gearing according to the Real Estate Institute of New South Wales (REINSW). Recently, some academics have argued that restricting negative gearing is one answer to the problem of affordable housing.  

“People that live here already are finding it increasingly hard to find rental accommodation as our monthly vacancy rate data indicates,” said REINSW President Steve Martin. “Last month it was 0.9% in all parts of Sydney, giving people already in rental accommodation nowhere to move to and forcing those looking for a home into competition for a very shallow pool of vacant properties.

“With the city’s population said to be growing at 1400 a week the situation is getting worse month on month. We know that some people are resorting to short-term lets, which are usually rented out as holiday accommodation, as a means to have a roof over their head, but this is no long-term solution.

“If negative gearing was removed, or restructured, it would drive more people out of the rental property market at a time when we desperately need additional, not fewer, property investors,” said Mr Martin.

“We all know the rental situation is at crisis point. Incentives, not disincentives, are the fastest, fairest and most practical means of addressing this issue, which, with more people flooding into Sydney, is going to move from bad to worse.” 

Please contact to Dael Climo on (02) 8267 0527 for further media comment.