Major rent change sparks landlord uproar: ‘Worked extremely hard’
Jul 2024Karen Millers
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Renters in Western Australia will only have to endure one rent rise per year and will be able to have pets or hang a painting. The state government’s new rental reforms came into effect for 700,000 tenants this week. Advocates say more needs to be done but some landlords aren’t convinced.
Landlords can now only increase rent for tenants once a year, instead of once every six months. The change brings WA in line with other states and territories, including New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and the ACT.
Rental prices in Perth are currently at a record high. Average house rents are at $650 per week, up 12.1 per cent annually, according to Domain data, while average unit rents are at $550 per week, up 14.6 per cent. Vacancy rates were at a two-year high in June but are still sitting at just 0.6 per cent.
WA Premier Roger Cook said the rental changes, which also allow renters to have pets and make minor modifications to their rental property, would provide more stability and certainty for tenants.
“These changes make renting fairer for all – giving tenants more certainty in their budgets, and allowing them to feel more at home where they live,” Cook said.
Tenants will still need to seek permission to keep pets and make minor modifications, including things like installing flyscreens, a water-saving shower head or a vegetable garden.
Landlords will be able to refuse under specific conditions, or with the approval of the Consumer Protection Commission.
Reforms ‘don’t go far enough’
Making Renting Fair spokesperson Alice Pennycott told Yahoo Finance the reforms were a step in the right direction but said more needed to be done to provide “genuine protection” for renters.
“It doesn’t really go far enough and it doesn’t get to the heart of the issues that renters are facing,” Pennycott said.
Make Renting Fair is calling on the government to ban no-grounds evictions. The New South Wales government recently announced it would introduce legislation to address this later this year, bringing it in line with Victoria, Queensland, the ACT and South Australia.
Pennycott, the principal tenancy lawyer at Circle Green Community Legal, said it was “disappointing” the government had not moved to ban no-grounds evictions and said it was a “fundamental” step to giving renters adequate protection.
“While [renters] can have their tenancy ended for any reason and without the ability to challenge it, that level of uncertainty and instability means they are not going to feel like they are at home, they’re not going to feel like they can really settle and, as a result, they’re not going to feel confident to raise issues with their property or speak up about a rent increase,” she told Yahoo Finance.
“Introducing things for pets or modifications, people aren’t necessarily going to enforce those rights because they know [eviction] is hanging over them.”
Make Renting Fair is also calling for rent stabilisation mechanisms, such as capping rent rises to CPI or wage increases, to manage increases are that “unfair or unreasonable”.
Landlords hit back at changes
Property Investment Professionals of Australia has suggested rental reforms will not encourage existing investors to remain or potential new landlords to enter the property market. A number of landlords have also shared their disappointment over the changes online.
“If renters want to do these things then save up and buy your own home. I should be able to say whether or not someone can have a pet in my home – that I have worked extremely hard to afford,” one said.
“Glad we have sold all our rentals now. Well done Labor! Through your constantly changing tenancy laws you have stripped owners of all rights!” another said.
Pennycott stressed tenants were still responsible for any damage caused to properties, including from pets.
Other landlords said they didn’t have a problem with the changes but worried about setting rental prices a year in advance.
“The problem I now face is predicting interest rate rises, market changes, and general expenses for the next 12 months, which means I will have to increase the rents to cover this ‘estimated’ shortfall and in return hurt my tenants earlier than I would have liked,” one said.
Pennycott said limiting rent increases to once per year could mean renters are hit with bigger increases than they would have been with six-monthly changes.
“We have to wait and see,” she said. “It provides people a little bit more stability for a little bit longer in terms of knowing what it’s going to be for the next 12 months but really it doesn’t do anything to actually address affordability of rental properties at all.”
The WA rental reforms follow a ban in May on soliciting rent bidding with tenants able to challenge retaliatory action by landlords.
A streamlined bond release process is due to be introduced in early 2025.
Originally Published: Tamika Seeto | Yahoo Finance | 30 July 2024
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