Young renters make up a significant portion of the rental market in Australia, but are they being treated fairly?
Trends show that many in the 25-to-29 age group are seeking leasing opportunities as they start out on their own or move for work and study.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), the home ownership rate for individuals in this age group is 36%, indicating that the majority in this bracket are in fact renters.
So while younger Australians are a key demographic in the rental market, the fact is they often looked at unfavourably by property managers.
Alison Hatch, licensee at Best Nest Property Management shared her experience with younger tenants navigating the rental market, and her up shot is: young renters deserve a chance.
“When submitting applications to landlords from young first-time tenants, I often receive fear-based responses, most commonly that they will be too young to have the required responsibilities.
Similarly, within the industry, I receive regular feedback from rejected young tenants that they can’t find a home as they have ‘no rental history’ and applications are being declined in favour of seasoned tenants.
In fact, many are being told by agents that they will need rental history to be approved…which is ironic if the reason for being declined is they have none!
In my experience, what many people don’t realise is that you can thoroughly check a young tenant who may not have any leasing experience in multiple ways, just like you can a seasoned tenant.
Consistent work history, car loan repayment ledgers, photos of the rooms/areas they live in, guarantor letters, personal referees, and ensuring they have the garden equipment or means to care for the home in the approval process goes a long way to checking a low-risk match.
Skills and traits like accountability, communication, and responsibility can be checked.
Often inexperienced tenants are very eager to please, and very protective about collecting the best rental history, so they go above and beyond to prove themselves.
Based on internal statistics at Best Nest, first-time renters are some of our highest-rated in care and consistent rent payments due to this desire to impress.
Many young people also don’t have the financial burdens that can get thrown at you later in life, such as dependents, mortgages, et cetera, and can therefore hold stronger affordable housing ratios – meaning less rent risk.
In essence, if young tenants are guided by us to understand leasing a home is like applying for the job you really want, their application can become a full picture resume that confirms suitability, and we can weed out those who do not yet have the maturity to care for someone’s hard-earned asset.”
Case study
“There are many examples I could cite of how making a low-risk option of a tenant with no history can turn into not just a high-quality leasing experience but also provide opportunity for business growth, but one client comes immediately to mind.
In 2023, a single father with a young child decided to move in with his current partner, both with no history, and applied for one of our ground-level units.
They had been refused multiple properties, and after our thorough checking process using the above methods, we found them to be highly suitable with strong, aligned values.
The property provided a great platform as a starter tenancy, being low-care and budget-friendly, and the landlords themselves had been previous first-time tenants of mine who came back to me to act as their agent.
These landlords were more than happy to give the tenant a chance.
Their trust paid off, and the tenants excelled at each inspection, taking on board all education given.
We have recently moved them into their second tenancy, a house with a yard, providing them opportunity to increase their home care skills and expand their tenancy history.
The unit they vacated was left perfectly to ingoing, with the tenant seeking constant advice on how to achieve this for our landlords, which is what allowed for such a high-level return.
We have just relet the home to two young males who are also first-time tenants, creating a positive leasing outcome for all parties, including the Best Nest team.”
