While Australian landlords are often portrayed as affluent aristocrats, Martin is more typical of the more than 80 per cent of the rental market owned by individuals, or “mum and dad investors”, says Australian Landlords Association president Andrew Kent.
Most landlords report a taxable income of less than $100,000 and there are more landlords in the $18,200 to $45,000 income bracket than the $120,000 to $180,000 range, recent tax data shows. More than 300,000 people who own rental property reported a taxable income below $18,200 in 2021.
“There’s an assumption that landlords are bad and tenants deserve more because they’re poorer, because they can’t afford to buy,” Martin, who sits on the Australian Landlords Association committee, says. “But the majority of landlords have single investment properties and they’re families.”
The fact that most of Australia’s landlords are working families, or middle-income earners doesn’t fit the political narrative that the “top end of town” runs most of the rental market.
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