West Australian (WA) renters will continue to face no grounds evictions for the foreseeable future after a fifth state set about outlawing the practice.
South Australia (SA), over the weekend, revealed plans to stipulate tenancies could only be ended for a prescribed reason.
Those reasons include any breaches by the tenant or the landlord wanting to sell, renovate or occupy the property.
Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory recently joined Victoria and Tasmania in banning no-fault evictions, while New South Wales has promised to end the practice this year.
No-fault evictions allow landlords to end a tenancy without giving a reason if, for example, they believe they can charge new tenants more.
But the WA premier said his Labor government wasn’t looking to follow suit as it introduces its own protection package for renters.
“We want investors to come into the market to take advantage of the great demand for rental accommodation,” Premier Roger Cook told reporters on Sunday.
“But we don’t want to stifle that by putting unnecessary burden (on landlords).
“We believe we’ve struck the right balance, and we'll be implementing our reforms in the near future.”
The WA reforms will outlaw rent bidding, ban rent rises more than once a year and allow tenants to make minor modifications and keep pets at rental properties.
The Northern Territory also allows no-fault evictions, including two weeks before a fixed-term tenancy ends.
Tenants are on track to outnumber homeowners without a mortgage, with rental properties now 31 percent of Australia’s housing mix.
The market has become extremely tight across the country, with vacancy rates below two percent, leading to high rent inflation.
The SA proposals announced on Sunday go further than other no-fault eviction reforms by stopping a landlord from turning out a tenant solely because a fixed-term contract has ended.
New South Wales (NSW) has proposed taking that step.
Victoria is the only state that restricts the practice to the first fixed-term contract.
Allowing landlords to evict at the end of a fixed-term contract incentivised them to increase the churn of tenancies, NSW Tenants Union chief executive Leo Patterson Ross says.
Doing so ensured landlords always maintain control over the premises, he said.
“The Northern Territory, WA, Queensland and Tasmania (and Victoria to a lesser degree) are risking being left behind if they don’t address shortfalls in their legislation,” he told AAP.
In announcing the SA changes, the state consumer affairs minister said housing insecurity was a real concern for many South Australian tenants who feared becoming homeless if their lease was terminated.
“Our reforms are seeking to address this and provide tenants with additional security in their rental home while still enabling landlords the opportunity to end a tenancy for valid reasons,” Andrea Michaels said.
