THE State Government’s new rental protection laws have passed the Victorian Parliament, aiming to make renting fairer for Victorians and building on the more than 130 reforms introduced since 2021. The Consumer and Planning Legislation Amendment (Housing Statement Reform) Bill 2024 delivers reforms to increase renter protections. Despite the high demand for social housing in key regional centres with the latest Victorian Housing Register data available (September 2024) revealing nearly 4000 applicants are on the waitlist in the Ovens Murray region, covering Wodonga and Wangaratta, the Coalition voted against the bill. A spokesman for Ovens Valley MP Tim McCurdy said while the Liberals and Nationals agreed with many aspects of the bill as housing availability and affordability are issues impacting many Victorians, both parties voted against the bill. The spokesman said after engaging with key stakeholders, the opposition proposed amendments to provide further protections for renters and rental providers. “The Allan Labor Government voted against our sensible changes, and as a result, the opposition did not support Labor’s flawed bill," they said. The new rental protection laws include stopping all types of rental bidding to ensure renters are getting a fair price and changing the notice period from 60 to 90 days – giving renters more time when they receive a notice of rental increase or notice to vacate. The new laws also ban no fault evictions so that Victorian renters can’t be kicked out of their home for no reason. Applying for a property will also be easier for both renters and real estate agents with a new standard application form for renters. Real estate agents will need to ensure they protect the information renters provide in their applications, adhering to privacy requirements around the use, disclosure and collection of information. It will now also be an offence for renters to be charged fees by rent tech platforms when making a rental application or for paying their rent. Real estate agents, property managers, owners corporations (OC) managers and conveyancers will also be required to be registered and undertake ongoing professional development to maintain their registration. Penalties for real estate agents and sellers who break the law will be increased to a maximum of $47,422. These fines will apply to offences such as underquoting – advertising a price below the auction reserve or asking price – and making false and misleading representations during the property sale process. Additional reforms in the bill will make annual smoke alarm safety checks mandatory for all rental properties and will give the Director of Consumer Affairs and VCAT additional powers when considering rent increase reviews. It will also be mandatory for properties to meet minimum standards when they are advertised for rent – not just when the tenant picks up the keys. The new laws will come into effect in November with additional reforms announced last October to be introduced in a bill later this year. These new laws coincide with the release of Infrastructure Victoria’s 30-year draft strategy, which sets out the urgent need for at least 60,000 new social homes across the state over the next 15 years. Beyond Housing chief executive officer, Celia Adams, said the recommendation highlights the reality that the chronic shortage in social housing has led to rising homelessness and housing insecurity across Victoria, including regional areas. "We know the housing crisis is not just a city issue,” she said. “Regional Victoria is experiencing the sharpest increase in rental stress and homelessness, and the lack of affordable housing is pushing more people into crisis.” Infrastructure Victoria’s independent draft strategy acknowledges that without a sustained pipeline of social housing investment, Victoria will fall behind other states, where social housing comprises a greater percentage of overall housing stock. The report recommends that government and community housing organisations work together to deliver 4000 new social homes each year to help reduce the shortfall and at least 300 Aboriginal social homes, in line with the state’s self-determined housing policy.
