End-of-year reflection

No less than the Reserve Bank of Australia board has predicted that 'further large increases in rents' are expected over coming years as population growth picks up.

Right now, far too many Victorian renters face a shortage of affordable and available rental homes. This is a systemic challenge, stemming from our flawed housing system and exacerbated by the uniquely disruptive circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The time is ripe for the Victorian Government to undertake a public consultation, including both renters and landlords, with the goal of legislating a ‘fairness formula’ to regulate future rent increases in the private rental market.

Our New Year resolution is clear: we will advocate strongly on this and other issues in 2023 on behalf of the growing renter demographic.

Meanwhile, stay safe and well over the holidays – our office finishes up on 22 December to enable our staff to refresh. We resume our services on 9 January.

Season's greetings to all – and merry Christmas and happy Hanukkah to those celebrating!

Get ready for summer

Summer has finally arrived! If your rental home has an air-conditioner, this is the time to check if it is working properly. If it is faulty, report it to the landlord ASAP.

Air-conditioning is an urgent repair under Victoria’s rental laws, and urgent repairs need to be done as soon as possible. Find out more about ACs and other summer preparations on our website. 

Shock jock rebuffed

Amid a tight rental market, it's been an action-packed month for us all at Tenants Victoria. 

And then Tenants Victoria’s community education lawyer Ben Cording had to set a flummoxed 3AW radio host Tom Elliott straight on some pretty basic rental rules. Catch up with their on-air exchange about ‘rental bidding’, which is illegal in our state.

We think the verdict is clear: Tenants Victoria 1 v Tom Elliott 0.

New parliament, new opportunities

In its third term, the Andrews Government has established a Department of Government Services that includes the renting regulator Consumer Affairs Victoria. CAV was previously in the Department of Justice and Community Safety and is a funder of our legal advice and grassroots community-education work. We are pleased to see Danny Pearson appointed as the new Consumer Affairs Minister after his recent stint in the housing portfolio. Mr Pearson also continues as Assistant Treasurer and will also be responsible for the new government services department, which commences operation on 1 January, 

Congratulations also to Colin Brooks, who is the new Housing Minister with the portfolio continuing to be supported by the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing, which includes Homes Victoria, the entity responsible for managing and expanding social housing. Meanwhile, Sheena Watt continues as the Parliamentary Secretary for Housing and Jaclyn Symes remains in cabinet as Attorney-General. 

Read about opportunities we see for renters in the 60th Parliament.

Join us: Facebook rental chat

Catch up on our latest Facebook Q&A with a focus on renting in summer.

In this lively chat, Tenants Victoria lawyer Georga Wootton and Director of Community Engagement Farah Farouque talk about the challenges renters face right now over how to deal with notices about rent increases. We tackle some sticky questions that renters sent in, including an intriguing one about a locked room under a staircase in someone’s rented home – and, no, Harry Potter wasn’t sleeping there! 🧙‍♀️

We also covered topics such as:

• Cooling your house
• Urgent repairs
• Pests and fly screens

Watch our Facebook Q&A chat.