Waleed Aly of The Project warns rent freeze favoured by the Greens poses a ‘massive risk’ to housing supply

High-profile host of The Project Waleed Aly has pushed back on the Greens proposed rental freeze – which if implemented could have already saved Aussie renters thousands of dollars. 

In a spirited segment on The Project on Thursday, Aly debated founder of the popular rental property review website S*** Rentals Jordan van den Berg, also known online as ‘Purple Pingers’.

Mr van den Berg told The Project he is in favour of the rent freeze, revealing the positive impact it would make on renters’ lives.

‘It’s pretty simple, give renters a bit of breathing room and let them spend money on something that isn’t an ever-increasing human right.

‘I know people who are choosing between medicine and their rent. You should never have to choose between those two fundamental things to be alive, or like putting food on the table for your family and that kind of stuff,’ he said. 

Aly agreed that no should ever have to make the choice between medicine and their rent, but it was then he challenged the proposed rental freeze.

He said evidence from around the world on the concept of a rent freeze isn’t that encouraging. 

‘In the US, the result was a whole lot of houses were just left to become uninhabitable as landlords then made insurance claims on damage,’ he said. 

In a spirited segment on The Proje t on Thursday, Aly debated founder of the popular rental property review website S*** Rentals Jordan van den Berg (pictured), also known online as ‘Purple Pingers’

Aly said there was an increase in black market rent bidding, where the official rent is one thing and rent bidding occurs in the background

He said issues with freezing rent weren’t just limited to the US.

‘In the UK they found social segregation, so it just meant landlords gave all the properties to professional families without kids and actually it was the most disadvantaged who missed out. 

‘In Berlin there was a huge fall in the rental supply. These are really serious side effects. Isn’t it a massive risk to just take something on like this?’ 

Mr van den Berg disagreed, saying Aly was not comparing like-to-like. 

‘In Australia we have this culture of investing in housing, we’re not comparing the same government subsidies, the same demographic breakdown, the same capital gains tax discounts, the same negative gearing concessions to investing.

‘So in America where those things don’t exist, putting a rent freeze in place we’re not having like-for-like outcomes,’ he said.

Aly was adamant a rent freeze could even potentially make the problem worse.

Mr van den Berg refuted that a rent freeze would stop people from becoming landlords.

‘At the end of the day, even if you can charge a little bit less for rent you’re going to get a capital gain when you sell the house, that’s just how it’s going to work. 

‘But also we need to consider this isn’t the only answer to the housing crisis, this is a little Band-Aid we can put on a gaping flesh wound, that we need to do with long-term policy solutions,’ he said.

Mr van den Berg expressed the urgency of implementing a rent freeze.

‘Renters need some immediate assistance right now, then let’s also work on the bigger picture.’