RORY SALAZAR | Property | Contact
Standing on the steps of Betoota’s Town Hall, megaphone in hand, conscientious lefty Samuel Banham (46) is protesting in support of the Greens’ proposed cap on rent rises.
“What do we want?!” he shouts through his megaphone to the 70-strong crowd of mainly anti-vaxxers.
“Rent caps!” they respond.
Banham has always exercised his democratic right to protest. And his politics have always been progressive. He’s protested against climate scepticism, Neo-Nazism, the culling of Kangaroos and now the lack of action to address the rental crisis.
He’s a millionaire for no other reason than he was born in 1977 and bought a house in 2005.
Putting down his megaphone, he tells the Advocate, “Albo can’t ignore our calls for rent capping. Not when 32% of the population rent and are subject to the whims of greedy landlords.”
The Advocate asked Banham if he had ever suffered rental increase shock from his own landlord. Surprisingly, Banham told us he’s never rented. He comes from a wealthy upper-middle class family who gave him cash to buy his own house at the age of 28.
He’s since bought a number of other properties around town.
“But I am a landlord,” he said. “So I have an insight into the need for rent caps. While I could never in good conscience raise the rent on my unsuspecting tenants, I know that if I didn’t have any moral integrity I could really stuff them round.”
To his credit, The Advocate can confirm that in the five years he has owned an investment property, he has only ever raised the rent in line with inflation – which is still a lot – but also fair enough.
However, while researching this story, The Advocate discovered that Banham’s investment property was recently listed on short stay accommodation platform, AirBnB, for an amount that would increase his rental income eight-fold.
“Oh, you guys did your research, huh?” he said defensively, looking around the crowd to make sure none of his comrades were listening. Quietly, he turned to our reporter with a weary look, said: “Yea look, I feel guilty about getting out of the long term rental market and into short stay accommodation, I do.” He paused, again ensuring no one could hear him. “But…well… money, you know?” he whispered.
More to come.
