Why losing the tenant advisory services is not a good outcome for the real estate and property industry

Why losing the tenant advisory services in Queensland is not a good outcome for the Real Estate and Property Industry

Tenant advisory services lose Government funding

It was a great shock to many to read the Queensland Government announcement on Tuesday 24^th July 2012 that funding will be cut to tenancy advisory services in Queensland.

Whilst some in the industry celebrated the announcement due to past or recent questionable dealings with some advocacy workers, Real Estate Excellence encourages the industry to take a deep breath and pause before popping the champagne.

Any industry has its ‘bad eggs’; and of course consumers can spend a great deal of time sharing bad experiences with some companies or organisations in general.

Firstly, it is hard to not agree in essence with the Government intentions regarding redirecting the funding of some $20 million to social housing. The question is can some of those funds still be directed into tenancy advisory services? Real Estate Excellence believes the tenancy advice services are a necessary service for the real estate industry. It must be said that the funds provided to the advisory services are not tax payers money; they are funds from the interest earned from tenants bonds held in trust with the RTA (Residential Tenancies Authority) which currently stands at $639.7 million dollars.

 (May 2012 – RTA www.rta.qld.gov.au)

The Government are stating that the RTA will fill the void left by the tenancy advice services. The latest RTA statistics (May 2012) show that the number of calls received per day to the Authority is 1341 with the monthly average being 29 498 calls.

It of course would be envisaged (and hoped) that the RTA will be recruiting more staff at the call centre to field the additional calls that will come in from tenants seeking advice and support services.

The further concern is that the RTA does not traditionally provide ‘advice’ which is what the tenant services provide; they provide general information.

One of the many concerns regarding this change of funding by the Government is the possible impact on disputes and tribunal. Tribunal waiting periods are already staggering in some areas of Queensland. The RTA statistics from May 2012 state that averages of 93 Form 16 dispute resolution requests are received daily with the monthly average being 2037. Will this increase?

Another concern is the possibly of change of legislation in the medium to long term future to correct what may be seen as a perceived or real imbalance between the parties to the tenancy contract (agreement). This will impact the real estate and property industry greatly given the amount of regulation already imposed.

Real Estate Excellence believes that it won’t take too long for the real estate industry to feel the impact of the loss of the tenancy advisory services.

Tenant program closed to pay for new public housing

The Newman Government will discontinue the Tenant Advice and Advocacy Service (TAAS) program as part of continued efforts to accommodate the 30,000 Queensland households currently waiting for social housing.

Housing and Public Works Minister Dr Bruce Flegg said his first priority was ensuring all available funds were channelled to the area of greatest need.

“The program has been jointly funded by the Queensland Government and the Residential Tenancies Authority (RTA) for a number of years and has received more than $20 million over the past four years,” Dr Flegg said.

“We can put this money to better and more direct use by building more social and affordable housing across Queensland.

“The former Government left Queensland with a debt heading towards $100 billion and a public housing system with no money to build houses.

“While it would be nice to be able to continue to fund programs like the TAAS, our primary focus needs to be on the core business of putting roofs over people’s heads.”

Dr Flegg said all current contractual obligations with the 23 affected community and local government organisations would be met as the program was wound down and that tenants would still be able to access information services through the RTA.

“I would like to thank all the community organisations and councils that have been involved with the Tenant Advice and Advocacy Service.”

Sourced from www.statements.cabinet.qld.gov.au

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