Renters around Australia could benefit from a push at national cabinet to limit rent increases to once a year and ban no-fault evictions in all states and territories.
The reforms proposed by the commonwealth would limit the frequency of rent increases and ban evictions without reason in jurisdictions that lag behind in renters’ rights, including Western Australia and the Northern Territory.
Although the reforms are already law or in the process of being enacted in the majority of states and territories, the creation of nationwide minimum standards would boost the government’s record on renting before another attempt to pass the housing Australia future fund (Haff) bill in October.
While falling short of the Greens’ demand for a cap or freeze on rents, the minor party now says it will oppose “unlimited rent increases”, signalling it may accept a limit on the frequency of rent rises as a first step.
National cabinet, which will meet in Brisbane on Wednesday, will also discuss conditions on the federal government’s $2bn social housing accelerator fund, reforms to liberalise planning law to increase housing supply and an update on Labor’s help-to-buy scheme.
Last week states and territories submitted draft plans for how they will spend their share of the $2bn, announced in June, specifying the number of dwellings that can be built or refurbished, when they will be available and the estimated effect on social housing wait times.
Labor and the Greens are still at an impasse over the government’s $10bn housing bill, which pays out at least $500m a year to build social and affordable housing. The Greens have teamed up with the Coalition to delay the bill in a bid to force Labor to consider a cap on rents.
Rents can be increased once a year in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, the ACT, Tasmania and South Australia, but once every six months in Western Australia and the Northern Territory.
A national cabinet agreement to limit rent rises to once a year would improve renters’ rights in those two jurisdictions, which also still allow evictions despite no fault from the tenant.
Queensland and South Australia have recently banned no-fault evictions, while similar laws are in the works in NSW. Given widespread adoption already, the two reforms are seen as a quick win for Anthony Albanese that would meet little resistance.
“There are some laggards, but there has not been any major disagreement on these terms,” one source familiar with the pre-negotiations said. “It’s an easy way to get uniform agreement.”
The Queensland law still allows landlords to terminate a lease at the end of a tenancy agreement, which the Greens argue is not a ‘no fault eviction’ and want guarantees tenants will not be forced out at the end of their lease agreement by landlords exercising loopholes in the law.
The Councils of Social Service network wrote to the prime minister, state and territory leaders calling for rent increases to be capped, warning that “without government intervention, housing will continue to be unaffordable and insecure for many Australians”.
Last week in question time, Albanese said his decision to put renters’ rights on the national cabinet agenda was “a practical move” but rejected the Greens’ calls for a rent cap.
“We won’t be nationalising private housing in this country,” he said. “We won’t be doing things that make it more difficult rather than less difficult, which is what the member opposite [Max Chandler-Mather] would do if he had his way.”
The prime minister said the meeting would discuss the national housing accord, which he described as “really critical”.
“That’s about land release, it’s about zoning, it’s about density – particularly around appropriate public transport routes – and it is about making sure that we increase supply, because that is what will make the big difference.”
On Monday the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, told reporters it was “time for the Greens to end the ambit claims and the political games in the Senate”.
“If they really believe in building more public and affordable housing, they’ll vote for it.”
Chalmers said the Haff would help build 30,000 more social and affordable homes, including homes for women and children fleeing domestic violence.
Asked what the Greens want from national cabinet, the party’s housing spokesperson, Max Chandler-Mather, said “we need an end to unlimited rent increases right now”.
“We’ve just seen the fastest rent increases in 35 years, pushing median rents well in excess of $600 in a lot of capital cities,” he told ABC Radio National.
“The [Reserve Bank] has said rents are going to go up faster over the next 12 months – 62% of renters are already in financial stress.
“We desperately need to put an end to unlimited rent increases, and put a cap on rents like a lot of industrial countries have done around the world.”
Last week the Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, claimed his state had “made renting fairer” by legislating 130 amendments to tenancies law to make “the rights of renters much more clearly understood and respected”.
In relation to national cabinet, Andrews said: “To the extent that other governments are interested in following Victoria’s lead – I’m more than happy to brief them, and share ideas about how we can better protect renters.”
