This project will investigate the motivations, expectations and experiences of rental property investors, and analyse the implications of investment motivations and behaviours for the future of lower rent housing.
Housing policy in Australia relies heavily on many low-income households being able to access affordable rental housing in the private sector. The supply of housing at rents affordable for people on low incomes receiving Commonwealth Rent Assistance (CRA) is critical to reducing what might otherwise be higher demand for social housing. This project will examine one key factor in determining the supply of such accommodation, namely: the motivations and behaviours of rental property investors.
Recent AHURI research has suggested shifts in the supply of low cost and other rental housing, but has not sought to provide a detailed explanation for why such changes in supply might be occurring. In the context of the recent housing boom and surges in mortgage lending for residential property investment, understanding investment behaviour is crucial to estimating future supply trends, particularly at the lower cost end of the sector.
The research will consider how the motivations, expectations and experiences of investors are affected by government policies such as negative gearing and vary according to length and timing of investment, geography, cost segmentation, investor type and scale of holdings, and will assess how they shape investor behaviour. These issues will be researched qualitatively from the perspective of rental property investors themselves, rental property managers, and other key agents directly involved in the private rental sector. The study will concentrate on metropolitan and regional rental markets in five States: Queensland, NSW, Victoria, Tasmania and Western Australia.
No. 87: Motivations of investors in the private rental market