WA Rental Crisis and the Investor Exodus, With Suzanne Brown, REIWA President

Perth relies on private investors for 85 percent of its rental housing. Victoria lost 642 rental properties in a single month. Queensland lost 332. Suzanne Brown, President of REIWA and Director of RentWest with over 35 years of experience across Western Australian property, joins Reece Beddall to explain why WA could be next and what the incoming rental reform means for investors and tenants alike.

The East Coast Investor Exodus and What It Signals for Perth

The investor exodus from Victoria and Queensland is not random. It is a direct response to rental reform legislation that has shifted the risk-return calculation for landlords in those states. Suzanne Brown works through the specific policy changes that drove investor departures on the East Coast and explains how closely WA’s proposed no-grounds termination reform mirrors the Victorian model that produced those exits.

Perth’s vacancy rate is already sitting at 2 percent, a level that is critically tight by historical standards. A 3 percent investor exit from the WA market would push the shortage into territory not seen since the peak of the mining boom rental crisis.

No-Grounds Termination: What It Actually Means for Landlords

No-grounds termination legislation sounds tenant-friendly and is being marketed as renter protection. Suzanne Brown’s analysis of the real-world impact is more complicated. The legislation removes a landlord’s ability to end a tenancy without providing a specific reason, increasing the cost and timeline for landlords who need to remove non-performing tenants. The financial reality of the process, which can run to thousands of dollars and months of time, is materially different from the policy discussion.

The End of NRAS and Why 1,500 WA Tenants Were Left Without a Safety Net

The end of the National Rental Affordability Scheme removed subsidised rental stock from the WA market without a replacement mechanism. Suzanne Brown explains the specific impact on 1,500 WA tenants and why REIWA believes government housing supply policy is consistently solving the supply problem while ignoring the renter affordability side of the equation.

Published: 06 Aug 2026