Got A Rental Horror Story? You Can Now Tell The Government About It
It’s no secret that we’re living through a pretty grim rental crisis at the moment and it feels like things just keep getting worse and worse for young Aussies just trying to, you know, live. Now a Greens-led Parliamentary Inquiry wants to hear your rental horror stories.
In case you missed it, back in June, the Senate referred an inquiry into the dire rental crisis plaguing Australia to the Community Affairs References Committee for a full inquiry and report.
The hope is that the interim report, presented by September 23, 2023, will help with deliberations of the National Cabinet on renters’ rights. With the interim report, hopefully this will be the moment the government decides to increase renters rights and cap rent increases. The final report will be presented by November 28, 2023.
What Is The Rental Crisis Inquiry?
The inquiry, initiated by the Greens and the first ever national one into the rental crisis, is now seeking submissions from the millions of Aussies who rent to share their experiences (aka horror stories) with rent increases, unliveable conditions and dodgy landlords.
With enough submissions, the Greens aim to put pressure on the government to further address the rental crisis with state and territory premiers and ministers and push for rent freezes.
Greens senator Janet Rice is the chair of the committee, but the committee also includes Labor and Liberal members, meaning the scope of the crisis can be heard by renters from across the political spectrum.
“We aim to get thousands of renters to share their experiences so that when the National Cabinet deliberates renters’ rights in a few months, Labor will be forced to reckon with the scale of the problem and put human faces to the housing crisis,” Senator Rice said in a statement.
Where To Submit Your Rental Horror Stories
Young aussies, it’s our time to rise up because we are in the trenches when it comes to this rental crisis.
If you have a shocking rental story you want the government to hear, you can submit it through an online form. Submissions are open until August 4 so you have a few weeks to gather your thoughts.
It’s a pretty cool thing to see some attempt at hearing from renters across Australia. Young people are often ignored by the government but now our stories will form part of the larger narrative of how hard renting is at the moment in Australia and potentially be part of the solution.
And While We’re Here: Relate To Junkee Staffers’ Own Rental Horror Stories
Have a horrific rental horror story or five? Us too. Here’s some of the worst stuff we’ve experienced as renters in Australia.
Talecia Vescio, 26:
I lived in Pyrmont for two months. It was a 12 month lease, but I couldn’t stay there any longer than I did. It was the roguest place next to a power plant that had a constant buzzing noise.
The bathroom was an extension of the house (where did they pee before this??) and it was so sad and weird. The shower was a tub/ bucket just big enough for standing in and the toilet was in its own little room down another set of steps and it was chockers full of slugs. Every day I peeled slugs off the wall and door, but it wasn’t long until the slugs took over my whole house. I would go downstairs and the rug was literally covered in glistening slug tracks. We called the real estate agent about the slug problem but they said that our agent just… no longer worked there. We decided to break the lease and they tried to keep our bond over a single light bulb that didn’t work. Bastards.
Tessa*, 28:
I lived in a brand new house in Schofields with faulty everything and a real estate agent who either did dodgy repairs or tried to pin the blame on the tenants. When we had our first inspection, they sent us a letter to inform us that our lawns weren’t up to minimum standard and if we didn’t improve them we would be asked to vacate. We had taken really good care of our lawns.
In May 2021, my partner and I moved into a Roseberry apartment (2 bed, 2 bath, 1 car) for $575 per week. Real estate wanted to hike the rent up by +$230 per week but legally couldn’t as they’d already raised it in the last 6 months (to $620 per week) so they gave us a notice to vacate.
Bella*, 25
Our landlord wanted to spruce up the garden before selling the house — no big deal at first because he was outside and not bothering us. Then he dropped a note under our door with a bunch of inspection dates, starting right away, saying that if we couldn’t agree on dates, his proposed ones would automatically apply and “access would be required”. We reported him to our real estate agent.
He then showed up twice, banging on our door and trying to break in (luckily, we changed the locks early into our lease because of a lost key situation). We blocked the landlord’s number, but after we moved out, he managed to find one of us on Facebook and tried to send a friendly message.
So things really are grim, aren’t they?
Editor’s note: *Names have been changed for privacy.
Image credit: Sex And The City, HBO