TC Alfred impact on rental market

Tropical Cyclone Alfred leaves its mark on Brisbane. Picture: Steve Pohlner

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While fears remain Tropical Cyclone Alfred may push already tight Queensland rental markets into dangerously low territory, rental managers are reporting fewer serious property damages than expected.

Real Estate Institute Queensland (REIQ) CEO Antonia Mercorella said while it was too early to have data on how many rental properties were damaged by Tropical Cyclone Alfred, there would certainly be impacts to rental markets from Hervey Bay through to the Gold Coast.

“When we look at those areas most affected, a majority of vacancy rates are already around 1 per cent, if not lower,” she said.

“The Gold Coast is sitting at a vacancy rate of 1 per cent, greater Brisbane also sits at a mere 1.1 per cent and Hervey Bay is sitting at 0.8 per cent.

“Even a handful of properties no longer being available is very concerning.

“While we don’t know who many properties are impacted, we know realistically a portion of rental properties in those areas will be rendered unliveable.”

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Workers cut up a tree that fell as Tropical Cyclone Alfred inched towards Australia’s eastern coast. Picture: David Gray / AFP

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Brittany Krebs, head of property management for Ray White Queensland, said overall, properties managed by Ray White across the affected areas were in a better positioned than expected.

“We were braced and prepared for what was coming,” she said.

“Hervey Bay was our most impacted office.

“They have properties that are uninhabitable due to water ingress – four at the last update.

“And the Hervey Bay Ray White office went under as well.”

Ms Krebs said offices on Brisbane’s south side were each dealing with 20-plus maintenance requests due to weather events.

“They are non-urgent issues such as roof leaks and fences falling over,” she said.

“Essential issues that need to be addressed, but not structural issues.”

Avi Khan, the group CEO of five Ray White offices across Brisbane’s south and west managing about 2800 rental properties, said while rentals had been damaged, it wasn’t as bad as anticipated.

“We’ve had one house that was flooded but apart from that, no other property is unliveable so far,” he said.

“Damage has mostly been to roofs, to gutters and to fences.

“There’s still some areas we’re worried about, that we can’t get access to but we’re keeping an eye on, such as Tamborine and Bundamba in Ipswich, but the extent of damage is a lot less than we thought it would be overall.”

Ray White AKG group CEO, Avi Khan. Picture: Supplied

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Mr Khan said the floods in 2011 and 2022 coupled with Covid had equipped property managers and tradies across South East Queensland to react swiftly while working from home.

“Tradies have been going above and beyond for our clients and the resilience of people is coming through strong across the board,” he said.

“We’ve found our landlords have been extremely reasonable and done everything they can to make sure their tenants are looked after, even though some landlords have been affected by the cyclone as well.”

Ms Mercorella said while tenants may be reluctant to report damage in fear of losing their home, she urged them to work with property managers and landlords.

“Tenants do have a legal obligation to report damage to the property, but it’s also important to report damage because their safety needs to be prioritised,” she said.

“The property manager needs to be in a position where they’re well informed so they can arrange repairs, and comply with their obligation to keep tenants and occupants safe.”

Ms Mercorella said even if a property was damaged, tenants may be able to stay.

“We shouldn’t immediately jump to the conclusion every impacted property will be rendered unliveable,” she said.

“In some cases it may be that the backyard is impacted but the house is liveable, or a portion may be unliveable, a bedroom for example, but the tenant can still access the kitchen, bathroom and other bedrooms.

“In that situation, a rent reduction is the appropriate solution.”

REIQ CEO Antonia Mercorella. Picture: Liam Kidston

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Ms Mercorella said while both tenants and property owners had the right to terminate a lease should a property be unliveable, there still could be workarounds.

“Tenants can move out temporarily while repairs are being done and then move back in,” she said.

“After the trauma of this, having to go find a new rental property is obviously going to be difficult for tenants and exacerbate the stress there already experiencing.”

Ms Mercorella said previous natural disasters had proven communication was key in these situations, along with understanding.

“The responsibility that rest with property managers, in particular, is quite high,” she said.

“They are dealing with property owners who want to know the status of their properties and tenants residing in those properties who are quite rightly stressed by the events.

“It’s quite a pressure cooker environment and the property managers themselves may be impacted by the events as well.

“Sadly property managers often bare the brunt of humans under pressure lashing out.”

Ms Krebs said Ray White had team members who were impacted but still showing up for clients.

“One of our team leaders has no internet, no power and no service and was driving to a relative’s house to keep on top of the team’s work,” she said.

“Our national property management leader had been without power since Saturday and was driving to a local cafe to access internet to work.”