Almost 1 in 3 Victorians rent their home. But renters are still too often treated like second class citizens.
Renting continues to be more expensive and less secure. It has become harder to find a decent, affordable rental home in Victoria. Renters face big rent hikes, poor quality houses that are freezing in winter and sweltering in summer, and problems dealing with agents and landlords.
That’s why the Greens want to strengthen renters rights, to give renters secure, sustainable homes, by:
- Controlling rent increases in line with wage growth to keep renters out of housing stress.
- Establishing a Housing Ombudsman to monitor estate agents’ compliance with the law and help renters enforce their rights.
- Introducing new rental standards for energy efficiency and cooling to make rentals more sustainable and affordable to live in.
- Enabling longer leases and stronger protections against unfair evictions so it’s harder for renters to be asked to leave.
- Restricting what information estate agents can request to stop unfair practices and invasions of privacy.
- Introduce a 90-day cap on how many nights a year a person can rent out a property that is not their primary residence as a short-stay (i.e. Airbnb), so more properties are available to renters.
The Victorian Greens have a long history of campaigning for better renters rights in Victoria and have secured some improvements, but the system still isn't fair.
With so many now locked out of home ownership, and more and more of us renting for decades, it’s time to make renting fair.
✍️ Add your name to the campaign and, together, we can make renting fairer.
Renters rights sits alongside our plan to Make Housing Affordable.