Will Queensland’s Granny Flat Laws Solve the Housing Problem?
Queensland’s new Granny Flat rental laws aim to ease the housing crisis – but will they? Relaxing laws around renting out your granny flat has landlords and soon-to-be landlords giddy with the notion of new streams of rental income. However, the idea of renting out a granny flat in Queensland isn’t without problems.
Granny flat rental market
With alarming statistics about the rising number of homeless older women, especially related to domestic violence and divorce, the granny flat rental market serves a greater good. Granny flats serve the ‘single or low income’ market, one that is currently under great stress in Queensland. Brisbane in particular has alarming numbers of women reporting homelessness or high risk of homelessness. New Queensland granny flat laws will help ease the stress in this market.
Granny flat rental laws lack clarity
The new Secondary Dwelling Laws provide only very vague rules for granny flat leases with an emphasis on landlords to act ethically in the negotiation of the lease. Issues around utilities, maintenance, insurance and even address information lacks clarity. Like any sudden and reactive change to a market crisis, the current laws around secondary dwelling leases are inadequate, with the Queensland RTA scrambling to catch up.
Availability and supply chain
Prior to the change in secondary dwelling laws, builders and pre-fabricated home suppliers were already experiencing project delays. The wait time on a pre-fabricated home is already up to two years and with the Queensland Government’s flood relief program putting extra demand on these companies, this change adds extra stress to an industry already under pressure. Like nature, property developers abhor a vacuum. Queensland is currently at risk of sub-standard pre-fabricated homes coming to market.
What happens when regulation hasn’t caught up with the market?
The Queensland Government has learned no lessons. From flammable insulation to collapsing water tanks and sub-par solar panel installation, the Queensland Government has a long history of knee jerk reactions with poor regulator follow up.
“Just because a dwelling is brand new, doesn’t mean there can’t be issues with it. More and more we’re seeing granny flats “dumped” on properties to increase sale prices. The bigger issue with granny flats is that a pre-purchase building inspector is limited to what we can report. Buyers need to consult councils and seek legal advice before buying a property with a granny flat. In some cases, shoddy materials and workmanship cannot be detected by a property inspector so buying a property with a “rushed” granny flat poses additional risks for purchasers.” said veteran Queensland property inspector, Andrew Mackintosh.
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