With housing becoming less affordable and wage growth largely stagnant, renters now represent a broad cross section of society.
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Over 17,500 people live in rented accommodation in the Monaro electorate, representing nearly one quarter of all households.
Local tenant advocates, academics and church groups have pointed to the use of no grounds evictions by unscrupulous landlords to remove tenants who have asked for basic repairs.
Labor candidate for Monaro, Bryce Wilson has promised to address rental stress in the region, dependent on the Labor Party winning office.
“Almost one quarter of people in our community live in rental accommodation. They pay good money to live in their homes, the Government should be setting rules in place which recognise the rights and responsibilities of both the landlord and the tenant,” Mr Wilson said.
“As our region continues to grow we need to ensure renters can feel secure and safe in their house. I’m hearing it while door knocking, our rental market needs reform, people need protection from eviction and there is genuine concern from tenants about frequent rent increases in Queanbeyan and Cooma.”
Besides ending unfair evictions, Labor would work towards longer term lease templates as well as restricting rent increases to once a year.
The need for landlords to provide a reason for a termination notice is already the law in Tasmania and the ACT and the Victorian Government recently announced its intentions to end unfair evictions in the region.
