Inaction from the Liberal and Labor parties on the need for a rental housing standards bill has prompted the Greens and the Footscray Legal Centre to ramp up their lobbying efforts in the lead-up to the state election.
Greens MP Greg Barber tabled a bill in State Parliament in October last year calling for an amendment to the Residential Tenancies Act 1997.
The bill seeks to set minimum housing standards for rental properties, resolve disputes between tenants and landlords, and stamp out unfair evictions.
Mr Barber is waiting for support before putting it to a vote in fear it will be shot down.
“We’re campaigning for it, but it’s really a question for the Liberal or Labor parties if they want to support it,” Mr Barber said.
“Everyone accepts the principal. You can legally rent anything at the moment.”
Six months after the Footscray Legal Centre released its Home Sweet Home report on the need to enforce housing standards and install an independent housing regulator, centre manager Denis Nelthorpe admits little headway has been made.
“We need to revisit every politician in the west and say, ‘Take responsibility for this issue – you can’t keep ignoring it’,” Mr Nelthorpe said.
The centre’s report was based on a survey of 100 tenants in the western suburbs. It recommended legislating Victorian housing standards for all rental properties, legislating for an independent body to enforce them and for penalties for landlords who fail to comply.
