Tuesday, 20 June 2023

Housing affordability

Katherine COPSEY (Southern Metropolitan) (13:40): On a recent sunny Saturday earlier this month I joined volunteers to attend rental inspections and talk to tenants in the inner south about their experience of the rental crisis. One young man was being forced to relocate after the lease he took over was not renewed. This is the second time this year he has had to move house, which we all know can be a stressful and expensive experience at the best of times. He is facing skyrocketing rental costs, which means he no longer has the choice to live alone and needs to move in with friends in order to even find a property. With 12-month leases the norm at best, most renters live year to year on the whim of landlords. We have heard from too many people that they are scared to speak out about repairs and essential works for fear of being branded a difficult tenant and not having their lease renewed, or facing eviction. A substantial proportion of Melbourne’s population rents, and we need to do better by them. We need to see increased rights and securities for renters so that they can safely speak up when they have no functioning heating or no oven without fear of that costing them their home. We need a freeze on rents now and we need rent caps moving forward to address out-of-control rent rises and make renting better.