Housing advocates in Queensland are calling for a cap on rental increases as growing numbers of tenants are forced out of homes in a market with almost no restrictions on price hikes.
The state government and real estate lobby do not agree that restrictions are needed, warning such a change would have little impact and would risk scaring owners and investors out of the market.
Sunshine Coast pensioner Suellyne Faux-Lott was paying $350 a week for her Maroochydore unit before being forced out after new owners hiked up the rent to $595 a week — an increase of 70 per cent.
"I was just horrified — I just couldn't believe it," she said.
"That was way over my fortnightly pension."
The 67-year-old said she was forced to stay with friends in northern New South Wales, before eventually returning home to the region where she had spent close to four decades.
She was preparing to live out of her car when a spot popped up in emergency housing
She will stay there until alternative accommodation is found.
She remains shocked by her situation.
"I've had businesses on the Coast and owned properties in my 37 years here, so I never imagined," she said.
New calls for limits on Queensland landlords
A bill from a Queensland Greens MP last year called for a rent freeze for two years, then a strict limit on increases after that.
But the bill faces defeat, lacking support from the major parties.
Queensland Council of Social Service chief Aimee McVeigh said she was calling for a rental limit linked to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) plus 10 per cent, mirroring laws in the Australian Capital Territory.
Across the state, the average rent went up 29 per cent in inner Brisbane, 31 per cent in parts of the Gold Coast, 27 per cent in southern Queensland, and about 15 per cent in north Queensland.
Ms McVeigh said in once case a tenant's rent went up from $105 a week to $490 a week.
"What we need to do is just make sure that the playing field is fair," she said.
"We need to put some certainty in the market so that landlords know what they're able to increase rents to, and tenants can have some assurance about how far those increases are going to go."
In the ACT, landlords have to calculate changes in the CPI between rental leases, and can then add up to 10 per cent of that number to come up with a "prescribed amount".
It adds up to an average rental increase of about 6 per cent at the moment.
If Ms Faux-Lott was coming off a 12-month lease in Canberra this month, her landlord could only put her rent up by about $23 a week unless they applied for an exception through ACT's civil tribunal or sought approval from her as the tenant.
'Hearing nothing but brokenness'
Inside the front door of The Shack Community Centre in Nambour are three plastic containers labelled "pads", "tampons" and "ladies deodorant".
Down the hall are wall-high shelves of more containers — all filled with breakfast cereals.
Founder and pastor Dale Dowler said while the centre has been helping the needy for more than 20 years, the faces were a little different.
"We're seeing a lot more families coming in," he said.
"There's a lot of assistance, from helping out with doing school lunches now, right through to full-blown family meals."
Pastor Dowler said some areas — particularly where people were struggling — could benefit from a limit on rent increases so people are not forced out.
While he has had tenants in his own properties and remembers the challenges, these days his sympathies lie elsewhere.
"I don't give too much thought to landlords because I'm hearing nothing but brokenness," he said.
'Mum and dad landlords feeling pinch'
Matt Diesel heads the local branch of the Real Estate Industry Queensland.
He said he understood renters were struggling — they call his agency in desperation, hoping for an affordable vacancy — but he said a limit on rental prices might only make things worse.
"It's a really hard situation for tenants at present because we're seeing them getting dislodged and having to move out further afield," he said.
He said landlords and investors were also "finding it very hard" with the rising cost of interest rates and repairs.
"Most of those are Mum and Dad investors, and they're really feeling the pinch," he said.
Limits unlikely but renters hope for change
Housing Minister Leanne Enoch said a recent report to parliament found rental controls "not generally effective" but said the government was working on the next phase of its rental reforms.
The Opposition blamed the housing crisis on the government releasing too little land for development but did not reply to questions about proposed limits on rental increases.
Ms Faux-Lott said something needs to change, or more will join her alongside the 46,000 others waiting for social housing across the state.
"It's not just for me," she said.
"It's for others that are other there in the same position — these women over 60."
