Tenure security and its impact on private renters in Queensland
Summary
Private tenants surveyed gave higher priority to greater flexibility and choice in their living conditions, than to a longer-term lease.
Project Number: 20033
Research Theme: Housing Policies and Programs
Project Leader: Minnery, John
Funding Year: 2000
Research Centre: Queensland
Research & Policy Bulletin
Issue 022: Do private tenants want longer-term leases?
Do private tenants want flexibility and choice, or do they want security and long-term stability? The private tenants surveyed in this project would give higher priority to greater flexibility and choice than to a longer-term lease.
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Description
The private rental sector plays a key role in the Queensland housing system. Currently around a quarter of households in Queensland rent privately. Historically, the private rental sector has been considered as a transitional tenure: either as the tenure for households waiting to enter home ownership, or for households waiting for social housing. However, the role and nature of the private rental sector has been changing in more recent times. There is evidence suggesting that households are delaying entry to home ownership, and fewer people overall are becoming owner-occupiers. It is not known whether this is by choice or constraint. At the same time, social housing is becoming more targeted and is less able to respond to a significant proportion of households.
As a result of these factors, the private rental market is increasing in importance as a longer-term form of housing. However, significant gaps remain around knowledge of the private rental market. Within this context, the Department of Housing and the Residential Tenancies Authority are interested in better understanding both demand and supply in the private rental market, to assist in designing suitable assistance products and services. The project investigated the extent to which low and moderate income households actively choose to move between dwellings, and what level of importance is attached to security of tenure by these households.
At the time of the project, it was recognised that many private renter households are quite mobile in moving between dwellings. It is also acknowledged that such mobility may have significant social and economic effects and impacts on those households. What is not properly understood is whether private renter mobility is mostly voluntary or mostly forced, and whether renters regard this as being problematic. It is also not known whether, to what extent, and in what circumstances private renters would like to have greater tenure security. The information obtained through this research project contributes to the understanding of demand for current housing services in the private sector, and will help to identify what role if any the Queensland Government may play in increasing residential stability in the private rental sector.
The project aimed to collect information from a sample of private renters to better understand their experiences and expectations of security of tenure-related issues in the private rental market. This project was conducted in the Brisbane area and other selected centres that assisted in exploring tenure security under different market conditions (eg a high tourism area, low growth area, and large metropolitan area), to be agreed on by the project managers. The Project included survey and focus group discussions with a sample of private sector tenants, including applicants for public housing.
More Information
Positioning Paper: No. 021: Tenure security and its impact on private renters in Queensland
969 KB PDF Document
Final Report: No. 027: Tenure security and its impact on private renters in Queensland
872 KB PDF Document
Research and Policy Bulletin: Issue 022: Do private tenants want longer-term leases?
42 KB PDF Document
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