Consumer Policy Research Centre CEO Erin Turner will be facilitating the ‘Is it liveable?’ webinar with Tenants Victoria CEO Jennifer Beveridge on Wednesday February 7th at 4:00pm-4:30pm AEDT (GMT+11) to discuss the recent joint research project and report on the safety, cleanliness and liveability of rental properties. The webinar will feature discussion and analysis of the research and report, from the positives to the negatives to the recommendations.
The webinar is free to register and a recording of it will be available to those registered. For an overview of the webinar and to register click here.
The Consumer Policy Research Centre (CPRC) together with Tenants Victoria recently conducted mystery shopper research on private rental properties in Victoria, publishing ‘Is it liveable? A mystery shop of private rental properties‘. Out of the 100 rental properties inspected, most met minimum standards though 9 properties had visible mold, 28% had maintenance issues and 5 properties had significant damage to floors, ceilings or walls. Additionally, the more low-cost and affordable rental properties were more likely to have problems with 39% classified as ‘not well-maintained’ compared to 18% of higher cost rentals.
Though the majority of rental properties met the minimum standards set out on page nine of the report, half of all agents could not provide complete safety and compliance information to prospective renters which, while not legally required at the inspection stage, is required information from the landlord before the lease is signed.
The report had seven recommendations:
- Consumer Affairs Victoria (CAV) should provide clear guidance about legal obligations;
- Monitoring and enforcement priorities of CAV should be focused on properties with lower-than-average rent;
- Legal reform is required to improve the provision of information;
- The Real Estate Institute of Victoria can play a key role in educating agents on providing good quality information;
- Minimum standards for private rental properties need to be lifted to deliver safe and healthy homes;
- Improve safety standards by requiring essential safety checks for ongoing rental agreements made before March 2021 (an estimated 43.5% of rental properties in Victoria currently do not have obligated safety checks);
- Further mystery shopper research to better understand local situations and inform government policy.