Current measures prohibiting the eviction of tenants and helping them through the financial crisis won’t last forever. A 40-year-old voucher program might be a longer term solution.
Many want to do the right thing – tenants and landlords alike. But they lack guidance on how to go about it while still keeping their own heads above water.
Representatives of tenants and agents agree that leaving individuals to try to sort out rent reductions has created a mess. It calls for government to step in to look after both renters and landlords.
Australia’s renters have been given a six-month moratorium from evictions for not paying rent. Some states and territories are offering other assistance.
In 2016, a Victorian court decided an Airbnb arrangement was a lease. ‘Guests’ could be protected by tenancy law, including against eviction. And in this case the host was evicted for subletting.
Not all landlords see their properties purely as investments. As welfare reforms take hold, some are starting to take greater responsibility for the well-being of their tenants.
Professor of Social Epidemiology and Director of the Centre of Research Excellence in Healthy Housing at the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne