If the changes below are approved it will further discourse investment in rental housing stock, the solution to the rental crisis is for the State government to encourage further investment by private small investors to become landlords and supply new housing for Queenslanders while gazetting suitable land or town planning changes to enable construction of this new rental suitable property.

On 18 April 2023, the Queensland Government released its Options Paper setting out proposed stage 2 rental law reforms to yet again amend the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008 (RTRA Act).

The proposed reforms focus on:

• Limiting a property owner’s right to refuse a request for modifications from the tenant;
• Restricting a property owner’s right of entry;
• Limiting the information that a property owner may request when assessing a tenancy application;
• Restricting the amount of bond a property owner may charge;
• Reviewing the bond claims process;>
• Capping break lease fees to a regulated amount.

The REIQ is concerned with ongoing and consistent rental law reforms in Queensland which are progressively eroding property owner rights and interfering with contractual relations.

In our view, it is vital that the Government take steps to encourage private investment in our rental housing sector to improve and restore supply to the market and ease the consistently record-breaking low vacancies experienced in Queensland over the past three years.