HOUSING RENTAL STATE OF PLAY 2024: Residential rental costs in coastal towns at the mouth of the Clarence River in Sept-Oct 2024

Yamba, NSW
Image: Getty Images

Iluka, NSW
IMAGE: Visit NSW

The small coastal townships of Yamba and Iluka in north-east New South Wales are on opposite sides of the Clarence River as in empties into the Pacific Ocean.

Respectively they have estimated resident populations of 6,467 (382.2 persons per square km & over 4,000 residential dwellings) and 1,793 (139.5 persons per square km & est. 1,313 residential dwellings).

Looking at the rental situation in Yamba using realestate.com.au data for Oct 2023 to Sept 2024:

• Three bedroom house average rental was $590 per week

• Two bedroom unit average rental was $450 per week.

According to NSW Government Rent Check tool using data for postcode 2464 as from 16 Oct 2024:

• That three bedroom house rental cost falls within the $550 - $633 median price range for similar rentals

• That two bedroom unit rental cost falls within the $408 - $495 median price range for similar rentals.

In relation to the est. 49 social housing dwellings in Yamba (ABS 2021), rental prices are understood to be approximately 30-50% lower than the aforementioned weekly private rental prices.

Looking at the rental situation in Iluka using realestate.com.au data for Oct 2023 to Sept 2024:

• Three bedroom house average rental was $460 per week

• Two bedroom unit average rental was $450 per week.

According to NSW Government Rent Check tool using data for postcode 2466 as from 16 Oct 2024:

• That three bedroom house rental cost falls outside the $500 - $525 median price range for similar rentals, being $50 to $75 lower across median price range.

• Available two bedroom unit median price range data is insufficient to calculate a range.

The rental situation in both coastal towns is tight with only est. 358 residential dwellings (1-4 bedrooms) available over the last 12 months in Yamba and very limited residential rental stock available in Iluka.

According to both rental yardsticks, rental properties in these two coastal towns are unaffordable for a single person on unemployment benefits and likely to cost on average est. 70-80% of a single person's disability or age pension.

Ray White Yamba is to be congratulated for deciding to not use the Ailo app in its rental business model

 

Ailo app 1.0 was released in or about April 2020 and has had nine iterations up to 25 July 2023.

From the beginning this app appears to have had stability issues – eg., app crashing, failure to load (Loading Error, Server Timeout Error, Connection Reset Error, Connection Failed Error) – and raised some general concerns about security of personal information due to potential third-party data sharing, possibly including photographs of occupied rental interiors.

This post in a Reddit thread appears to encapsulates renter unhappiness:

I've had nothing but problems since being forced to use this god awful app. Incorrect due dates for rent, incorrect amounts being charged for rent, receiving repeated emails stating my rent is $5 overdue ( this one lasted for months). Not to mention the annoyance of trying to pay rent without being charged a fee.

While a Whirpool forum show tenants are fighting back:

I successfully complained to the Dept of Fair Trading NSW and Ailo have now offered a 'fee-waiver form' as a way to stop fees being charged for direct debit rent payments.

It does sound like you only avoid paying fees if you know about the fee-waver form.

In my view the wording of the current legislation is too open to abuse, which is what Ailo have done (see Residential Tenancies Act 2010, Sect 35.) Fair Trading and others are putting pressure on Ailo and it seems to be working; make your voice heard if this is affecting you.

Fair Trading recommended contacting policy @customerservice.nsw.gov.au, who review legislation reforms, and Tenants Advice or Advocacy Services (TAAS) at www.tenants.org.au

Hope this helps.

So Ray White Yamba is to be congratulated for deciding to not use the Ailo app in its rental business model.

Clarence Valley Independent, 16 August 2020

Increasing cost-of-living pressures have led Ray White Yamba to elect not to use the Ailo mobile app, introduced by the company across its network of agents as a property management system, for tenants to pay and landlords to collect rental payments.

Recently, some Ray White agents, along with other real estate brands, across Australia emailed tenants and landlords inviting them to use Ailo, a third-party property management app to pay their rent, which was founded by former Ray White Director Ben White.

Ray White Yamba Managing Director, Daniel Kelly said after piloting and testing the Ailo property management system they decided against implementing it for their clients.

“The Ailo technology is not exclusive to Ray White, there’s other brands around the country that are using it as well,” he said.

“Based on our experience in using it, we feel as though it is not the right fit for us.”

The Ailo app charges 0.25 per-cent for an automated direct debit from a bank account, 0.95 per-cent for debit card payments and 1.5 per-cent for credit card payments, while also offering a fee-free method of payment as required.

In NSW, a law was passed in 2011 that every real estate agent must offer a fee free means of paying rent.

Mr Kelly said convenience and increasing cost-of-living pressures were reasons why Ray White Yamba chose not to use the Ailo app.

“Predominantly one reason was convenience for our clients, tenants in particular, because it’s a system that largely would have been accepted, I believe by landlords, but, from a tenancy perspective the feedback that we have had is that it removed a level of convenience for them in paying the rent,” he said.

“The decision we came to was, obviously cost-of-living is a big issue at the moment, and we don’t want to be inflicting further pain on people, so it wasn’t the right fit for us.”