The Australian Greens are claiming a significant victory on the grounds of the rental crisis set to take centre stage at a senator inquiry. The party is credited with this development following their successful collaboration with the Coalition to postpone a housing Future Fund until October and thereby give the Labor Party time to speak with state and territory leaders on potential rent controls.
Over the past months, Australia has been met with thousands of renters in dire need of financial assistance who will soon have a public forum to express their grievances to Senators.
The Greens have declared an inquiry will be conducted to assess the affordability, availability, and supply of rental housing in the nation, with a preliminary report to be delivered in September, prior to a scheduled national cabinet meeting regarding the rights of renters.
The Greens are hopeful that the outcomes of the inquiry and the national cabinet meeting will necessitate Labor to comply with their demands to pass the HAFF. The party would like to see the government take the initiative to institute rent freezes or rent caps, whereas the government claims that the responsibility of rental controls lies with the individual states and territories.
Dr. Chris Martin from UNSW reported that according to research, the national average of asking rents has risen by 11 percent within the last 12 months, and Sydney renters have been severely impacted due to the dramatic increase of median average weekly rents for new tenancies, climbing to $650 a week or a 20 percent jump in the last year.
Although Dr Martin acknowledged that a rent freeze and rent cap as suggested by the Greens would protect existing tenants from huge rent increases, he admitted that such measures could have severe ramifications for landlords and the overall economy.
“Tenants may feel that they have gained in the short-term by not being evicted, but in reality, the removal of rental accommodations, a lack of new places, and the decline in rent-controlled housing lead to increased rental costs overall,” he said.
This creates a situation in which landlords with sitting tenants are the ones who suffer the most, eventually manifesting in a black market with new tenants having to essentially “buy” their way in with key money.
Julie Collins, the Housing Minister, argued during Thursday’s Question Time that the experts and evidence demonstrate a rent freeze would have a detrimental effect and would not be effective.
“The Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute asserted that an introduction of such a policy would not work due to its disincentivizing nature to any potential new investors, and as a result, it would prevent availible housing supply from being increased,” she said.
