Education Centre

Robert Schwarten - Minister for Housing & Citizenship???

 I am writing in response to the recent letter from the minister for housing, in which he labelled my family and my business as un-Australian because of a tenant tendering process we have been trialling in our independent Real Estate Agency. (Albert & Logan - Letters to the Editor 11 May 2007)

 I find this offensive and typical of the usual political stunt of the "bait and switch" tactic often seen when a politician's failings in their posting become glaringly obvious, so they point the finger elsewhere to distract the public from the issue of real concern, in this case being a lack of public housing. 

Recently Democrat Senator Andrew Bartlett raised concerns over Robert Schwarten's decision to freeze funding for housing at the Woorabinda Aboriginal and received a similarly intellectually worded response:

http://www.andrewbartlett.com/blog/?p=380

The minister has been invited on several occasions to discuss the tenant tender process and raise his concerns with Sean and myself and has in all instances declined and instead chosen to attack us in a public forum and in parliament.  Who's un-Australian here?

 The tenant tender process came about as a process we could use to try and satisfy several concerns that were becoming apparent in the existing tight rental market.

 Some of those concerns were:

•  As Agents, we are bound by the Property and Motor Dealers Act and also have a Fiduciary requirement to obtain the best outcome for our clients. 
•  We were getting situations where potential tenants have openly bid against each other in the office over properties.  This has the potential to cause conflict and endanger our staff who we are also bound to protect and provide a safe workplace for.
•  We had situations where tenants were approved for properties and then another potential tenant would come in and offer more and we were open to disputes from owners asking why we hadn't presented these possiblilites to them in the first place or why we hadn't appraised it at a higher market value.

 As a result, we did a brainstorming session and  thought a fair system would be to let tenants submit their best closed offer, and to present them all to the owner for them to decide on the best application.

 The communication breakdown appears to have evolved from the minister's lack of understanding on what a "Best offer" is, so I will give some analogies to better illustrate the process. 

In the sale of a property, a seller will often take a lower offer with no conditions over a slightly higher offer with a lot of clauses, because it is a more secure contract. 

 In the same light, a landlord will usually take a good tenant with good references offering a fair value of the property, over someone who clearly cannot afford to pay their rent and offers too high a price in order to try and secure a property. 

 As agents, we discuss the terms of each applicant fully with the landlord, and trust they will make a good decision based on that they are an intelligent and capable persons as are the tenants submitting the offers.

 The other advantage of the tenant tender process is that in this tight market, a good applicant may not have applied for a tenancy because they thought the price was too high, and the landlord has lost the potential for a good tenant to maintain their investment.

If the Government is placing increasing pressure on the private sector to provide housing for the rental market, it has to allow property owners the right to obtain the best return and the best quality of tenant to protect that investment.  

 The minister has on several occasions said that most other agents are against the procedure also.  This is a purely commercial dispute based on the fact that most of the agencies he is quoting are unable to utilise the process themselves as they are locked into a franchise agreement in which the processes and marketing they use are subject to the franchise's parent approving any alterations to their procedures. 

 We are a small, independent agency.  We hire local staff and have a focus on family values and staff training.  We are very proud of our team. Many of the large franchises in town have become aware that our team are fast establishing a reputation as the most forward thinking, professional and well trained team in the local area. 

I  invite the minister once again to participate in a personal meeting to raise his concerns regarding our policies and procedures and in particular the specific parts of the procedures he is disputing.

 I would also like to suggest the minister hold a local meeting where he can discuss the housing cooncerns of the local area and speak directly with the residents and community groups whose tireless efforts are assisting those in need. 

Clearly, the lack of housing in the area is a concern that needs addressing and I'm sure there are many members of the community, myself included, who would love the opportunity to share some creative strategies and ideas on how we can help the community grow and thrive in a positive direction.

Tanya Black