New year's resolutions for NSW renting laws
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Greetings, fellow renters! As we kick off a new year and look to changes in 2024, we thought it's time for our renting laws to make some serious new year's resolutions. Just like the rest of us, they've been making promises for years, and it's high time they start keeping them! A rented home should be safe, healthy, stable, and affordable – and our laws should aim to deliver this.
Let's set 3 specific new year's resolutions for starters:
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Say goodbye to 'no grounds' evictions
Remember that promise from last year about putting an end to 'no grounds' evictions? Yeah, we do too. Well, it's time for our renting laws to finally deliver on that commitment. No more excuses! And that means ending no grounds evictions both during ongoing periodic tenancies and at the end of fixed-terms. A majority of renters in NSW are on fixed-terms (58%), and the majority of renters who currently receive no grounds evictions are on fixed-terms (71%). If you don’t get rid of eviction for no reason at the end of fixed-term agreements, you’re not really getting rid of no grounds evictions. Check out our 5 page Briefing for NSW MPs on ending 'no grounds' evictions.
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Tacking affordability – regulating rents
Too many renters are struggling to make rent, and things are only getting harder given record high rents. Significant government investment is required to support new housing supply that is affordable and appropriate for low income earners (and yes, that means delivering more social housing). With cost of living pressures hitting renters so hard, it's clear nothing should be off the table. Regulating Rents, the report we co-commissioned with Shelter NSW last year, sets out international examples and experiences regulating rents from across North America and Europe. The report offers a range of models that are worth considering and could be drawn on and adapted for the NSW context. One of the report's co-authors, Dr Alistair Sisson also recently wrote a short piece summarising the research and how rent regulations can work: Rent regulations are no silver bullet, but they would help make renting fairer (The Conversation).
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Boarding houses – reform is long overdue
Here's a resolution that often slips through the cracks – renting reforms for residents in Boarding Houses. For quite a few years now, our renting laws have been promising to address the many problems we see for people in shared accommodation, whether in old school or New Gen boarding houses, or private share housing and lodging arrangements. 2024 should be the year these marginal renters see real change.
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Housing Australia, the Accord and other Federal government housing schemes
In December the Federal Senate published the final report from the Inquiry into the worsening rental crisis in Australia. The report brought together evidence from a wide range of stakeholders. Unfortunately the committee could not reach agreement about solutions. Also recently published was the Summary Consultation Report on Developing the National Housing and Homelessness Plan. It's clear from the submissions that the community wants to see much greater ambition and leadership from the Federal government in resolving housing and homelessness issues. We look forward to seeing how the government responds.
Applications have opened for the Federal government's Housing Australia Future Fund (HAFF) – the $10 billion fund that will provide co-investment finance for 40,000 social and affordable homes. In a new article on the Tenants' Union blog Zuzia Buszewicz, our Policy and Campaigns Officer, unpacks the HAFF, Housing Australia, the National Housing Accord, the National Housing Infrastructure Facility, the Social Housing Accelerator and other Federal government schemes aimed at addressing the housing crisis. Zuzia points out that even with all these mechanisms, the Federal spend on delivery of new housing supply and boosting social and affordable housing stock remains far behind government spending on negative gearing tax concessions and capital gain tax exemptions for landlords and Commonwealth Rent Assistance.
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The high cost of Australia's unfair tax system
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Last week Everybody's Home launched their report: Written Off: The high cost of Australia’s unfair tax system. The report finds that Australia's housing affordability has crashed because the government is subsidising investors instead of directly building homes. The report shows that tax breaks for landlords outstrip federal spending on social housing by at least five times and investor handouts will cost almost $150 billion over the next decade if we don't change course. That's enough to build more than 500,000 social homes. There will be a panel discussion this Wednesday 31/1/24.
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$206 million for energy efficiency and solar
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The NSW Government has announced $206 million to help people in social housing, people on low incomes and renters access energy efficiency upgrades and solar. The Solar Banks program will provide a 50 per cent rebate for the installation of rooftop solar panels in multi-dwelling social housing, and the Solar Gardens program will allow low-income homes to access a portion of a ‘solar garden’ community energy plot.
The Tenants' Union welcomes the package – it brings relief to people doing it tough, and is a win for the years-long campaign through the Sydney Alliance.
However we would also very much like to see investment in the building quality itself to ensure homes are well-insulated and draught-proof. Energy efficient appliances can only do so much to ensure a home is safe and healthy if the building itself is the problem. We would also love to see a supported billing structure for the network for solar gardens to allow people to receive their solar credits from the garden independent of their retailer so that they aren't locked into one retailer.
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Yabun 2024: Surviving, Guiding, Thriving
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The theme of Yabun this year was Surviving, Guiding, Thriving. Yabun Festival is more than just a gathering – it’s a living testament to the enduring strength and vibrancy of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures.
The Tenants' Union was pleased to attend again this year to celebrate the resilience and strength of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. Amidst the heat, Yabun was an oasis of solidarity and support. We connected with renters and organisations from all over Sydney, shared renting stories, and gave out merch and resources.
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Aboriginal housing advocates raise their voices about the housing crisis
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Aboriginal people continue to suffer disproportionately in the ongoing housing crisis. But Aboriginal advocates are also keeping up the fight for justice in Countries all across the continent. "We have always had a housing crisis because we were dispossessed of our land and the places we lived. It always has been, and it will continue to grow if we don't get ahead of the housing crisis that is already here" said Gunditjmara man and Aboriginal Housing Victoria board member, Damein Bell in It's a crisis (National Indigenous Times). In recent submissions to the Yoorrook Justice Commission, Aboriginal housing advocates put forward a viable solution: governments must return unused public land to Traditional Owner groups to build housing.
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Rents and migration – what does the data say?
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Late last year, amplified by the Federal government, there was a resurgence of the idea that pulling back migration numbers would ease pressure on our renting system. Progressive and conservative voices critique this notion. For instance, the Naarm-Melbourne writer, renter and activist Hiero Badge and the former Reserve Bank economist Peter Tulip both point out in different ways that if you want to resolve housing affordability, the problems and solutions are more homegrown.
We thought we should have a look at the evidence in NSW, particularly between the two most recent census periods which did see dramatic change in population across many different areas both from domestic, internal migration and international migration.
Check out our new data dashboard: Population change and rents. What it tells us is that there is a clearly strong link between vacancy rates and real rents – but there isn't a strong link between population change and rent change.
In a joint statement with 40 other organisations we assert that migrant communities are being unfairly scapegoated as the reason for the housing crisis. The crisis has been decades in the making – poor policy choices by successive governments have pushed up the cost of housing. Overwhelming evidence tells us the chronic undersupply of social housing and inflationary impacts of investor tax incentives are fuelling the current crisis.
Read more:
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How to get your bond back
Despite what some landlords and agents may think, the bond is your money that is held in trust by NSW Fair Trading until the end of the tenancy. If the landlord wants to claim on your bond they need to prove why and what the money is needed for with evidence such as quotes and invoices. It's also worth remembering that once a tenancy is over, you can claim the bond without the signature of the landlord/agent. If your claim is not challenged by Tribunal application within 14 days the bond board will pay it to you.
In a recent piece in the Sydney Morning Herald, Tenants’ Union of NSW CEO Leo Patterson Ross reiterates that landlords have to show there is a problem that needs to be fixed, and they have to show the tenant is responsible for it.
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"Tenants’ Union of NSW chief executive Leo Patterson Ross said the most common disputes are over cleaning costs, repair costs or financial disputes over outstanding rent or bills.
'A lot of the claims that go through tribunal are not supported by evidence,' Patterson Ross said.
The condition report at the start of a tenancy agreement was a key document for renters as was meticulous record keeping for the duration of the lease.
'People should be accurate, but it’s also worth taking pictures and notes, so you have a solid evidence base of what the property looked like.' "
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Rent Tracker tools updated
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The suite of tools that make up our Rent Tracker Research Project have been updated with the latest data to the end of December 2023. The tools use data published by NSW Fair Trading.
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Help the Tenants' Union continue our work for tenants
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