Victoria’s government is set to introduce new rental legislation to crack down on excessive rent increases and ensure rental accommodation meets basic standards.
On Nov. 27, Premier Jacinta Allan and Minister for Consumer Affairs Gabrielle Williams announced plans to introduce the Consumer and Planning Legislation Amendment (Housing Statement Reform) Bill into the Victorian Parliament.
It will target excessive rent rises and substandard properties.
Rent reviews are a remedy for tenants who believe a rent increase is excessive.
Consumer Affairs Victoria can investigate and help parties negotiate an outcome, or the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) can hear evidence from parties to determine the validity of a rent increase.
However, the rent review process currently considers only a limited number of factors—the size of the rent increase itself isn’t one of them.
Whether a rent is raised by 10 percent or 200 percent, a renter cannot have that taken into account during a rent review.
Similarly, if the landlord has not made the required repairs to the property—for example, if a rental had a mould issue that had been raised and hadn’t been resolved, and the rent was still increased—a renter cannot currently have that considered through a rent review process.
The new rules will expand what is considered in rent reviews.
New legislation will also seek to ensure rental properties meet minimum standards from the day they go on the market, such as functional kitchens, lockable exterior doors, and free of mould and dampness.
Individuals or agents who seek to rent out properties that fail to meet minimum basic standards could face maximum fines of $11,000 (USD $7,119) to $59,000.
The bill will also include several previously announced reforms, including the removal of eviction without grounds, banning all rental bidding, increasing the notice periods for rent increases and notices to vacate to 90 days, making rental applications easier, and providing greater protections around tenant privacy.
Mandatory training, licensing, and registration for real estate agents, property managers, conveyancers, and owners’ corp managers will also be legislated.
Under the new rules, real estate agents breaking the law would face harsher penalties, properties would require annual smoke alarm checks, and additional fees to pay rent on various platforms would be abolished.
More Changes to Come
The Victorian government says the reforms would make renting fairer, with more legislation set to come into effect in 2025.Those rules would ban agents from charging extra fees when tenants apply for properties, seek to stop landlords from making dubious bond claims without evidence and cap the cost of breaking a lease.
Tenants would also be entitled to an extra key, fob, or apartment, and terminating electronic access would become an offence unless it forms part of a termination of tenancy.
The rental reforms build on more than 130 already introduced under Labor.
“We’re building more homes for renters to live in, and we’re legislating more rights so renters get more respect,” Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan said in a statement.
A Help or a Hindrance?
Similar laws were passed in New South Wales last month under the Minns Labor government.The changes prompted the Real Estate Institute of NSW (REINSW) to warn that too much restrictive legislation could impact landlords and ultimately affect tenants.
In Victoria, recent data from the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing revealed a significant drop in rental properties, with nearly 22,000 fewer available this year, as investors flee in response to new taxes on investors.
“The removal of landlords’ rights under the guise of populist rental reforms has had a clear negative impact on renters,” said REINSW CEO Tim McKibbin in a statement.
He said the best solution for the rental crisis was to increase the housing supply.
