Author Neha Madhok backs Labor housing reforms after decade as rent-vestor

Australian author Neha Madhok has publicly endorsed the Labor government’s proposed reforms to negative gearing and capital gains tax, drawing on her personal experience as a rent-vestor to illustrate the systemic pressures facing young Australians. In an opinion piece published in The Guardian, Madhok describes how she was forced to purchase an investment property she could not afford to live in, while paying rent elsewhere, to secure housing.

A decade ago, Madhok approached every type of Australian bank with $70,000 in life savings and a permanent full-time job. Despite these credentials, lenders determined she could not secure a loan for an owner-occupier property in Sydney due to deposit requirements. With the option to ask parents for a top-up dismissed as unrealistic for many, she was directed toward an investment loan, which carried higher interest rates and required lenders’ mortgage insurance.

Madhok purchased a one-bedroom apartment that required work, renting it out while she rented a cheaper place to live. She describes the arrangement as a financial slog rather than a wealth hack, noting that she paid for two homes, strata fees, repairs, council rates, and real estate costs on a single income. The only tangible benefit she identified was the ability to claim tax-deductible repairs, a detail she notes is rarely discussed in political debates.

The author argues that tax settings introduced in 1999 under the Howard government treated housing as an investment vehicle rather than a human right. She contends that these policies fuelled a culture of property speculation that favoured wealthy investors leveraging equity for multiple properties, while under-45s were forced to navigate an irrational system designed for the big end of town.

Madhok links the government’s policy shift to broader political pressures, suggesting that voter anger over housing affordability has contributed to the rise in polls for the right-wing populist party One Nation. She states that the ALP appears to be listening now that votes are on the line, responding to a warning shot from angry voters who feel institutions have failed to support their futures.

After seven years of operating as a rent-vestor, Madhok transitioned to living in her own property. She writes that she now enjoys the security of a place where she can make personal modifications, a goal she believes should be accessible to everyone. She welcomes the reforms as a necessary correction to a system that she claims favoured wealthy investors over ordinary homebuyers.