BATHURST is facing a rental crisis, with the number of properties available significantly lower than how many prospective tenants there are on the hunt.
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Two of Bathurst's biggest agencies, Bathurst Real Estate and Raine and Horne, are both reporting vacancy rates below one per cent and expect other agencies are in a similar position.
Bathurst Real Estate principal Michael Whittaker said his agency had no vacancies by the end of last week.
He linked the lack of rentals to the coronavirus pandemic.
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With so few rentals available, it has created a lot of competition for tenants and seen rent prices increase.
"We had a property that ended up with 64 registered tenants to go through and then what we actually saw was the rent start to increase on that property quite dramatically because obviously there was competition between prospective tenants," Mr Whittaker said.
"It's kind of good for landlords, but tenants at the moment need to be very, very well-organised.
"What the agencies are getting to at the moment is that you get to choose between the very good tenants and the excellent tenants, where before there used to be a bit of a spread and you would put someone in on a short lease who maybe had had some issues in the past or something like that."
While there are people from within Bathurst looking to move into a rental, there has also been an increase in people from metropolitan areas who are looking to make a big move.
Mr Whittaker said this was a result of the pandemic, which has created an environment where it is possible for many jobs to be done from home.
"I won't say it's an exodus from Sydney, but we are seeing people move from Sydney to Bathurst because the rent is a lot cheaper and they are probably starting to realise it is quite a good lifestyle," he said.
A similar trend has been noticed by Raine and Horne director Matt Clifton.
"We're getting a reasonable stream of inquiry coming from out of Bathurst, particularly from Sydney, people looking at relocating and that has been brought about to a large extent by the pandemic, in that people are now realising they can work from home," he said.
"In some cases, employers are encouraging people to work from home, so rather than working from home from Sydney and paying a very high rent, they can relocate to a regional area and either rent or purchase for a lot less."
Mr Clifton described the situation as "a desperate shortage" of rental properties at the moment, saying he hadn't seen it this bad in the 30 years he has been in Bathurst.
Both Mr Clifton and Mr Whittaker said it was a good time for people to purchase an investment property if they had been considering it, as demand is high and they would get a good return.
Mr Whittaker's advice to renters is to make sure they are organised, have all their supporting documents ready in advance and get their applications in quick to improve their chances of securing a property.
Mr Clifton also suggested for people with properties they typically use for tourist accommodation to consider repurposing them temporarily.
"I know the economy has opened up a little bit with regard to tourism, but if people are finding that their short-term accommodation, such as Airbnb accommodation, is sitting empty for any reason, then maybe even as a short-term measure, those property owners could consider renting their properties out on the long-term market to try and ease the shortage," he said.
"They will get a good return."