Landlords have admitted to “discriminating” against Australian families, with one mum calling out the practice after being rejected from a dozen properties.
Gemma Cronin and husband Jeremy have been renting in Victoria for nearly five years and have four children under four, plus a dog.
They were only paying $560 per week for a four-bedroom Geelong home, but found it “extremely difficult to get any maintenance done”.
They started looking for a new place after a mould problem broke out, but Gemma told Yahoo Lifestyle securing another rental was “extremely difficult”.
“We had agents scoffing at inspections when we told them our family situation, which led to constant rejection,” Gemma said.
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They expanded their search beyond Geelong by more than 40 kilometres and knew they would likely have to pay more than they already were.
Despite that, they still couldn’t get a look in.
They applied for 12 properties after inspecting 20 and were rejected time after time, with Gemma suspecting it was because they had young kids.
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“I would always keep an eye on these houses that we got rejected from to see if they had been leased by anyone else and, to my surprise, they were still available online for weeks after,” she said.
“Some are still available now after almost two months.
“I understand that at the end of the day if [landlords] have the choice between multiple applicants, they are able to choose who they would prefer.
“However, my main concern was that they weren’t accepting anyone. I never imagined people would build family size houses and then deny families a home.”
Landlords defend ‘discriminating’ against families
Gemma vented about her frustrations on social media and she received more than 3,000 comments.
The mum-of-four was “blown away” by the number landlords who defended themselves for rejecting applicants with families.
“My husband and I renovated for 15 months before renting out our property. We of course were picky when deciding on a tenant. It’s our pride and joy,” one wrote.
“I wouldn’t want four kids in my investment, sorry… my property may not be kept in the condition I want purely because the parents are too busy. We are accepting the risk of the investment, so we need to do everything we can to maximise profit and minimise risk,” added another.
“I want to minimise the risk of damages to my house so I don’t have to spend my hard earned money to fix ‘accidents’ that happen,” wrote a third.
Adam Flynn, who has worked in the real estate industry for the last 25 years, ripped into this behaviour from investors.
Real estate expert Adam Flynn said it was horrible the discrimination Gemma and Jeremy went through in their rental search. Source: Instagram/Adam Flynn/Gemma Cronin
“It’s wrong and it’s discrimination,” he told Yahoo Lifestyle.
“Each person should be decided upon based on their previous rental history and good references.”
Adam said property managers will typically encourage investors to pick whoever is going to be the “easiest”.
A report from the NSW Tenants Union found 50 per cent of tenants had faced discrimination in the rental system.
People with pets made up the biggest proportion (23 per cent), while 10 per cent of parents with young children and 7 per cent of single parents also faced hardships finding a place.
Adam told Yahoo Lifestyle property managers and investors can have completely false perceptions about applicants, with one example being single parents falling behind on their rental payments.
He added that young real estate agents might lack experience and empathy during the application process.
Thankfully for Gemma and her family, they’ve found a four-bedroom home for $460 a week.
But Adam had one piece of advice for families going through the same issue: write a good cover letter.
The real estate expert said this is where you can plead your case.
“Being honest is the best policy. Explain a bit about yourself, what you love about the property, why you think you’re a good fit and a great tenant,” he said.
“If the landlord is looking at a number of applications, and as long as the property manager is having an unbiased viewpoint, I think that adds a human element to it.
“And maybe even add in some photos of yourself and your family.”
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