Source: ABC News —
Sophie* and her partner are relieved to have a roof over their heads after a nightmare experience looking for a rental in inner Brisbane.
With their lease coming to an end, Sophie turned all her attention to finding a new place.
A two-bedroom unit within 10 kilometres to Brisbane’s CBD was the goal — somewhere close to both their workplaces.
Struggling to find a place within their price range in decent condition, Sophie stopped working in her job as an e-commerce manager to focus her days on looking for a place to live.
For two months she would wake up, check websites for new listings, contact agents, get on inspection lists, schedule inspections and, from 11am to 6pm drive around to inspections.
What she encountered was shocking.
“It was like a nightmare that we had to live every day,” she said.
Most of all, Sophie was disheartened by the more than 10 agents who encouraged her to offer more for the property.
Some were more blatant than others, though all of them would only address Sophie when they were not within earshot of other prospective tenants.
Sophie said one of the more popular ways of encouraging bids was for agents to say “you could offer what you think the property is worth”.
Others were more up front, saying “if you offer more you’ll get the place” or simply “you can offer more”.
Sophie said she never did bid higher because she feared it would normalise the behaviour, and make it more difficult for others to secure rentals.
“The best advice that I can give to people is just to try and stay positive,” she said.
“Looking for a house in Brisbane right now beats you down to your last reserves.”
The Rental Affordability Index (RAI), published by National Shelter, Community Sector Banking, Brotherhood St Laurence and SGS Economics & Planning, is a price index for rental markets.
Its most recent report found Brisbane to now be the second-least affordable capital city for rents, which have risen over 17 per cent in the 12 months to June 2022.
The rental squeeze is also borne out in figures published by the Real Estate Institute Queensland (REIQ).
The statewide vacancy rate was sitting at 0.8 per cent at the close of last year, well below the 2.6 per cent figure the institute considers a healthy market.
