Lower House debates new protections for renters

The Consumer and Planning Legislation Amendment (Housing Statement Reform) Bill 2024 aims to enhance housing affordability, tenant protections, and the quality of rental properties.

In her second reading speech in November Gabrielle Williams (who was Minister for Consumer Affairs at the time) said that one third of Victorians are renters and that number is expected to climb.  
  
‘This highlights why it is so important to increase protections for renters, providing them with greater certainty over their rental agreements, living standards and finances,’ she said.  

The bill extends the notice period for rent increases and for notices to vacate from 60 to 90 days, mandates that properties meet minimum standards at the time they are advertised, includes provisions to protect renters' private information, strengthens provisions against rent bidding and completely removes no-cause eviction notices.  
  
It also increases the penalty for agents who underquote the selling price of a property.

“ 'It is so important to increase protections for renters, providing them with greater certainty over their rental agreements, living standards and finances.' ”

Gabrielle Williams, Member for Dandenong

Tim McCurdy, Shadow Minister for Consumer Affairs, said the opposition supported some provisions.  
  
While he said the opposition supported aspects of the bill, including professional development for real estate agents, banning rental bidding, ensuring minimum property standards before advertising, and establishing Rental Dispute Resolution Victoria (RDRV) to ease VCAT's backlog, he argued the legislation would ultimately harm renters by driving up costs and discouraging investment in rental properties.  
  
‘It tips the pendulum away from being fair to siding with the renter. If you continue to side with the renter – and I have got no problem about supporting renters; we do not on this side, but at the same time if you tip the balance too far – you will find that rental providers will leave; they will sell their properties and move on,’ he said.

He moved a reasoned amendment to withdraw the bill to provide time for further consultation with the real estate industry about the impact of the removal of no-fault notices to vacate.

“ 'If you tip the balance too far – you will find that rental providers will leave; they will sell their properties and move on.’ ”

Tim McCurdy, Member for Ovens Valley

Juliana Addison, Member for Wendouree, said the bill would make a ‘real and substantial’ difference to renters.  
  
‘[It] extends the requirement for annual smoke detector checks to all residential rental properties in Victoria, particularly the 240,000 rental properties excluded from the 2021 tenancy reforms. Smoke alarms save lives. Homes without functioning smoke alarms are dangerous and lead to preventable deaths,’ she said.  
  
Richard Riordan, the Member for Polwarth said the bill would make the provision of the private rental market more difficult at a time when the number of available rental properties is falling.  
  
‘What we know, for example, is some 30 to 40 per cent of housing sales in the state of Victoria at the moment are rental properties going on the market, with landlords fleeing. On the government’s own figures, the rental bonds here in Victoria, there has been a 3.6 per cent decline, so it has worked out at roughly 24,500 fewer homes being rented through the private sector last year.’  
  
Sonya Kilkenny, Member for Carrum, highlighted the amendments in the bill following the Red Tape Commissioner’s review into the planning system that she said would make it easier to get planning permission to build a home.  
  
‘They are measures that are designed to make the system more agile and more efficient to enable us to get on and focus on what we need to focus on, and that is building more homes – more affordable homes – in all of the locations where Victorians want to live,’ she said.  
  
Member for Richmond Gabrielle de Vietri said the reforms in the bill were welcome but needed to go further.  
  
‘I say the only way to make renting truly fair is to make unlimited rent rises illegal. Until that happens the power imbalances between landlords and renters will mean that all those other protections that have been introduced will not be enforced, because renters will live in fear of a retaliatory rent increase from their landlord if they dare ask for their basic rights to be met or if they dare take their landlord to court, if they have the time and money to do so,’ she said.

The full debate is available to read in Hansard.

The bill has now be sent to the Legislative Council for their consideration next sitting week.