Advocacy – who cares? We all should

When people think of REIWA, it’s our property listings site and market commentary that usually come to mind.

Less well known is our advocacy work. We play an important role as the trusted translator between the property sector and key decision makers, including Government Ministers, their departments, other members of parliament, as well as community and industry stakeholders.

Legislation can have far-reaching consequences. Decision makers need to be aware of what is happening on the ground and how policy may positively or negatively affect consumers and industry. REIWA provides vital insights through our data and feedback from our members and the community.

A key example is the rental market, where rents have reached record highs. This is challenging for tenants and the immediate reaction, such as that from the Greens, is to call for rent caps or freezes.

But if you look deeper, the issue is that demand is far outweighing supply. Demand is being fuelled by population growth and we’ve seen supply decline as investors leave the market. Our research shows about 18,000 properties have been removed from the rental market since the high point in February 2021.

A balanced approach is needed from legislators. Our market relies heavily on investors – they supply about 85 per cent of properties in the private rental market. They can easily put their money elsewhere – and they will. We saw the negative effects of legislation changes after the COVID moratorium was lifted. Investors voted with their feet and left the market in droves.

Legislation remains a concern for investors. The finer details of the changes to the Residential Tenancies Act are still to be decided. While investors have been reassured by the retention of no grounds terminations and the State Government ruling out rent caps and freezes, they are still concerned by the potential changes regarding pets and modifications to rental properties.

We’ve also been advocating for the need to boost housing supply and offer greater housing diversity. The situation we’re facing now has been years in the making and WA needs to maintain a consistent pipeline of new builds to meet the needs of our growing population. The Government has recognised this and is implementing a range of measures to boost supply.

Another issue we are engaging with the Government on is continuing professional development (CPD). This is under review. The community have made it clear CPD is important to them. They want to be confident their agent is abreast of the latest legislation and changes affecting the industry, such as cyber security. CPD is also important to us. We want to maintain the professionalism of the industry.

Changes to legislation affect us all in some way. Advocacy may be a less visible part of REIWA’s role, but it is something we should all care about.