The Victorian Greens say that new data revealing that Melbourne unit rents have hit an all time high is more proof that Labor’s screwing renters by refusing to implement rent controls.
With unit rents now sitting at $580 a week, matching house rents for the first time in more than a decade, apartment renters are being forced to pay more for smaller homes with less security, in what’s been labelled a blatant ‘landlord’s market’.
It comes as Melbourne’s rental vacancy remains below 2% leaving renters competing in overcrowded inspections and forced to accept homes that don’t meet their needs and in unfair power dynamics with landlords that leave them paralysed to assert their basic rights out of fear of a massive rent increase.
Without rent controls, the Greens warn the rental crisis will continue to worsen in Victoria. The ACT remains the only jurisdiction in the country where rental affordability is improving, after rent controls were introduced with the Greens in shared government.
The Victorian Greens spokesperson for Housing and Renting, Gabrielle de Vietri said that apartment rents spiralling is not accidental and that Labor’s special treatment for property developers and investors is why they’ve not intervened while the rental crisis has worsened.
Victorian Greens spokesperson for Housing and Renting, Gabrielle de Vietri:
“Labor’s chosen to screw over renters to give special treatment to property developers and investors. Make no mistake, if it’s a landlords market, it’s because Labor’s chosen it to be that way.
“Four out of five renters in Victoria have copped an unaffordable rent increase in the past two years. Labor has watched and done nothing to make renting more affordable.
“The ACT has shown that rent controls work. It’s the only place where rental affordability is improving. We did it there, and there is no reason Victoria can’t do it too.”