A FAIR GO FOR RENTERS

Fixing the Unfair Rental Market

The rental market is South Australia is out of control. While prices continue to soar, SA renters face some of the worst protections in the country.  Whether you rent or own, we believe that everyone has the right to feel secure, live comfortably and be part of the community. 
 
With so many now locked out of homeownership, affordable and secure long-term rental options are vital.  Sadly, many people are experiencing housing stress and have no certainty about where they are going to be living in a year or even six months’ time.  The ability for landlords to easily evict people without grounds causes great uncertainty and stress, especially for families with school-age children.   
 
The system is skewed against people who rent and in favour of landlords.  We need to redress the imbalance and provide better security, rights and protections for people who rent.  It is simply not good enough that successive governments continue to ignore the systemic market failure that excludes so many in our community from safe and secure housing. 
 
The Greens want to provide stability to people who rent, make homes affordable, ensure minimum housing standards, allow people to create a home, and give renters better rights and protections. 
 
Under our plan we will protect renters’ rights by establishing a State Tenant’s Union to ensure renters have access to independent information, advocacy and advice services.   

The Greens will establish a Standard of Renters’ Rights to:

Extend the moratorium on evictions and rent increases for those experiencing financial hardship as a result of COVID-19 
Ensure all homes meet energy efficiency and security standards
Prohibit no cause evictions; 
Implement rent controls to protect vulnerable people from rent hikes 
Provide the option of long-term leases to give security to renters; 
Prohibit rental bidding that force potential tenants into unfair rental auctions; 
Allow people to rent with their pets, other than in exceptional circumstances,  
Allow people to make minor and reversible changes to properties;  
Build more social and affordable housing
Source: SGS Economics and Planning, 2021


The latest Rental Affordability Index, has shown that low and moderate-income households continue to be under extreme rental stress across the country. Greater Adelaide is the second least affordable capital city, with incomes failing to keep pace with rising rents. In other words, the average rental household pays 27 percent of their total income if renting at the median rate. 

(https://www.sgsep.com.au/assets/main/SGS-Economics-and-Planning_Rental-…)