Young landlord explains why she is ‘strongly against’ raising rent for tenants
A 21-year-old property investor has sparked debate after revealing she will never increase rent, even calling fellow landlords “greedy” for chasing extra income.


News.com.au
January 9, 2026

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A 21-year-old landlord has revealed why she is “strongly against” raising the rent for her tenants, even if interest rates go up.

Lina Donelly bought her first property in Narrogin, southeast of Perth, in August 2024 which was already tenanted by a young family for $350 a week.

The electrician took to TikTok to share why she won’t ever be increasing the rent, even with ongoing pressure from her property manager.


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“I believe that it is a landlord’s responsibility to cover their own interest rate,” she said in the video.

“You’re the one who wanted to buy the house, you’re the ones who wants to take a risk at investing – that risk is your responsibility.

“If your interest rate goes up, that’s on the landlord.

“It’s not on your poor tenants to cop the cost of your bad investing skills.”

Ms Donelly said, as a landlord, when the tenants are looking after the property and paying all the bills on time, there’s no reason for her to “push them away”.   


“You’re being greedy over another $50 a week and your tenants might walk away and you might get some dodgy a** people in there – then you’ve got a world of problems,” she added.   

“If you’ve got a nice family, you look after them and they will look after you.”

Tenants who are treated well, will not only stay longer and look after the property better, but have more respect for the landlord and be willing to help them out, she said.

“But raising the rent, one, you’re only part of the problem that’s happening in Australia with the housing crisis and inflation,” Ms Donelly said.

“As a landlord, I think you have a responsibility to look after people and, number two, it is your success, it is your risk if it goes wrong.

“I would never raise the prices on my houses, as long as it’s covering the original expenses that I set up, it’s staying the way it is.”

Lina Donelly owns three properties, one which was already tenanted when she bought it.

She doesn’t believe it is ‘morally right’ to raise rents.

MORE: Alarming number of Aus landlords abandoning market

The young landlord told news.com.au she had seen a lot of negativity online towards landlords, with a majority of them raising rents as the country continues to grapple a worsening housing crisis.

“People are struggling,” Ms Donelly said.

“I thought I would make a video on it to talk about (how) there are some landlords out there that are capping prices … so other people might be inspired to not raise their (rents).”   

She said growing up, her family was forced out of their rental due to a rent hike, which left their home no longer affordable.

It was a massive hassle and struggle for her family, Ms Donelly added.

When asked whether her stance would change ahead of possible interest rate rises, the 21-year-old remained firm.

“I saw first-hand what the impact of raising rent actually does, you’re messing with people’s livelihoods and their family and, especially when it’s just out of pure greed that these landlords are just raising the rent because they can,” she said.   

“Going into my home loans, I’ve structured them in a way that, even if interest rates do rise, I won’t be affecting these families.

Many Aussies were supportive of Ms Donelly’s stance.

“I’m actually now planning to potentially lock in interest rates to protect myself and that is a part of financial planning that you have to do when you are a property investor,” she said.

“It’s my duty to look into where the Reserve Bank is heading and what they are planning so I can plan accordingly so I don’t have to affect my tenants.

Well we are in the middle of a housing crisis.  This has been in the making for a long time, both labor and the coalition are at fault.  Far too few houses have been made for social housing.  Also as the Australian Greens say, rent caps and a rent freeze for awhile, would not be a bad idea.   

"Lina Donelly bought her first property in Narrogin, southeast of Perth, in August 2024 which was already tenanted by a young family for $350 a week."

$350 a week, in Narrogin?!   

I've lived in Narrogin - that's about $300 too much.