Having built his multimillion dollar business and personal fortune selling home loans, Mark Bouris is now sharing his view on changing the Australian tenancy laws by suggesting government should take a serious look into offering tenants the option of long-term leases especially in the Sydney and Melbourne markets.
To Bouris it makes sense as the Australian property market matures, given the practice of long term renting is widely accepted in Europe and in the mega cities like New York, where a tenant can secure a long term lease for decades.
“I think we could end up there, maybe not right at the moment but we will end up there,” he said. “What’s going to happen, with lending regime the way it is, you’re only going to get certain numbers of people who can afford to, or be qualified, to buy an investment property.
“If you get a good tenant you should stick with them, that’s the bottom line,” he said.
Sharing his view on Australian property on his new TV show, The Mentor on Channel Seven, Bouris explained his view that although Australians have an obsession with buying houses, long-term renting “especially in Paris” is seen as completely normal.
And it seems Bouris in not alone, with the Victorian government announcing last year that a 10 year lease option for tenants will become part of a standard tenancy agreement.
“And you can transfer the lease [in Paris],” he said. “I buy the lease from you, I get the lease, it’s a good deal, it might have another 20 years on it.”
“But I don’t think young people think that way,” he said. “In our age group, it’s a status symbol, [to own rather than rent], it’s an Australian thing and I think it’s an American thing too, but it’s not European”.
“Maybe the government should be doing something to encourage people to offer long leases and to people to take long leases and make them tradable.”
As Australia’s larger cities move towards and embrace more medium density and community based living, it’s not difficult to see how combining the right property developments with the right long term tenant mix can be a win for property investors, tenants who feel more secure and at home, and the wider community.
