Assistance Required for Tenants and Landlords During this Coronavirus Pandemic

With coronavirus (COVID-19) declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization, and Australia implementing unprecedented steps to contain the spread of the virus in our country, there are so many different market segments that stand to be affected.

Tenants and their ability to pay rent is one that is starting to be widely talked about in the media. We are already seeing mass job losses occurring, and whilst this crisis unfolds there are unfortunately likely to be more.

There are various ways in which different governments across the globe are dealing with this, and at this stage our government is yet to announce any assistance to tenants or landlords in this regard, so we are pleased to see industry bodies such as the Real Estate Institute of Western Australia urging the state government to consider some form of rent assistance to tenants if they can no longer afford to pay rent as a result of this crisis.

The impact of tenants being unable to pay rent effects not only the tenant, but also the landlord, who in most cases will have a mortgage to pay not only on the investment property, but also the property they reside in. They are also not immune to potential job losses, just the same as a tenant.

We have experienced some very tough times in Western Australia for landlords over the past 5 years, who even in some cases needed to sell their property but were unable to due to the downturn in the market. The old cliché that “all landlords are rich” couldn’t be further from the truth in Western Australia in 2020.

We are very hopeful that the government will consider strongly and swiftly measures to assist tenants with the payment of their rent should they be affected, and we would encourage everyone, including landlords and tenants alike, to show compassion to each other during times of hardship.

Author: Alana White, RE/MAX Extreme