The Greens (WA) have announced a list of key demands to strengthen renter\u2019s rights and shift the power balance away from property developers, landlords and real estate agents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Housing will be a top priority for the Greens (WA) in the next term, with recent data showing Western Australia is now the epicentre of the national housing crisis1<\/sup> after four years of the Cook Labor government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since the 2021 State Election, rents in Perth have increased by more than 50%2<\/sup> putting thousands of Western Australian into financial hardship and earning our city the unfortunate title of \u2018least affordable capital city\u2019 in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Meanwhile, our ageing public and private housing stock is some of the worst in the country, putting renter\u2019s health at risk in our notoriously hot summers and through the cooler months of winter as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After four years of the Cook Labor government tinkering around the edges of the housing and renting crisis, the Greens will today announce a commitment to strengthen renter\u2019s rights including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n WA Greens Housing Spokesperson and Legislative Council Candidate, Tim Clifford:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOver the last four years the Cook Labor government has consistently prioritised the rights of property developers, landlords and real estate agents over the rights of the 700,000 Western Australians who rent. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDespite passing reforms to the Residential Tenancies Act in April last year, new inflation data out last week shows Western Australia is still at the epicentre of the national housing crisis with rents rising more than 10% in the last year and more than 50% in the last four years.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWestern Australians who rent desperately need relief which is why the Greens will push for a two year rent freeze after the state election which would save the average household almost $6,000 per year3<\/sup>; more than 8 weeks rent!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut unlike the Cook Labor government, who are experts at bandaid solutions, we know that more than a temporary rent freeze is needed to ease the pressure on renters in the long-term.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat\u2019s why the Greens are announcing today a permanent cap on rent increases that is tied to CPI alongside a suite of policies that will actually make a difference for the 700,000 Western Australians who rent.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHousing Minister John Carey could have made bold reforms to the Residential Tenancies Act but instead he caved to the property developers, landlords and real estate lobbyists like REIWA.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cLabor just keeps tinkering around the edges of this housing crisis. If Labor really wanted to tackle this crisis they would freeze and permanently cap rents, scrap unfair no-reason evictions and give WA renters safety and security in their own homes.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n WA Greens MLC Dr Brad Pettitt:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWestern Australia is the only state where tenants can be evicted for no reason and the only state where the government uses this unfair policy regularly to evict tenants from government owned and managed housing. 1<\/sup> Perth housing market: Latest inflation data shows renters hit hard in 2024, The West Australian, Wednesday 29 January 2025, Source: https:\/\/thewest.com.au\/business\/economy\/perth-housing-market-latest-inf\u2026<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n 2<\/sup> SQM Weekly Rents: Perth. Source: https:\/\/sqmresearch.com.au\/weekly-rents.php?region=wa%3A%3APerth&type=c\u2026<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n 3 <\/sup>Renters could have saved 10 weeks worth of rent by now under Greens rent freeze proposal, Max Chandler-Mather, Australian Greens, 24 October 2024. Source: https:\/\/www.maxchandlermather.com\/renters_could_have_saved_10_weeks_wor\u2026<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n 4 <\/sup>2023 WA Renter\u2019s Survey, Make Renting Fair WA. Source: https:\/\/makerentingfairwa.org.au\/resources\/survey-findings\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Greens (WA) have announced a list of key demands to strengthen renter\u2019s rights and shift the power balance away from property developers, landlords and real estate agents. Housing will be a top priority for the Greens (WA) in the next term, with recent data showing Western Australia is now the epicentre of the national … Continue reading “Renter’s Rights”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31187","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aussie"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31187","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31187"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31187\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31188,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31187\/revisions\/31188"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\u201cThe Greens WA tried to amend the Residential Tenancies Act in April last year to get rid of the unfair practice but were blocked by the WA Labor government who claimed, without evidence, that doing so could impact housing supply.
\u201cWhat there is plenty of evidence for is the impact that maintaining this unfair practice has on the security and affordability of housing for the 700,000 Western Australians who rent.
\u201cA survey last year by Make Renting Fair WA4<\/sup> revealed tenants are too scared to ask for maintenance or necessary repairs in case that leads to an eviction and feel powerless to negotiate rent increases.
\u201cAs the biggest landlord in the state, the WA Labor government regularly uses no-grounds evictions to evict public and social housing tenants into homelessness; a practice that is, frankly, criminal.
\u201cWe are joined today at this announcement by Sandii Rogers, a public housing tenant on the disability support pension who has been told by the government she will have to cover the cost of installing insulation in her home. This is not good enough.
\u201cSo many public housing tenants swelter through summer in state-government owned and managed housing that doesn\u2019t even meet basic minimum standards such as roof insulation, let alone air conditioning. It is time to invest in minimum energy efficiency standards as a priority.
\u201cAlongside investing in public housing, we would push for a $1,500 rebate scheme to incentivise landlords to improve the energy efficiency of private rental properties, helping renters to save on their energy bills too.
\u201cFar too many Western Australian homes fall well below minimum standards for safe housing; this needs to change as a priority.\u201d<\/em>
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