Safe & Affordable Homes
Who we are
Renters And Housing Union (RAHU) is the largest member-run union of renters in Australia representing thousands of renters across the country.
As a union, RAHU is funded and run entirely by our members.
We formed in 2020 in response to the COVID19 crisis and organise to ensure that every renter has a safe, secure and affordable home.
Our priorities:
Affordable
Everyone should be able to afford a place to call home, regardless of their income. Despite shelter being the foundational aspect of our needs, rent has become the largest essential cost, and unaffordable for too many.
Regulating rents is central to resolving the housing affordability crisis, and Victoria can set the Australian standard to ensure every Victorian has a home.
- Establish a Rent Price Cap through a residential rental rating system that regulates rent by the standard of the rental property.
- Ban rent increases on all Victorian rental properties until 2025.
- From 2026, Limit rent increases to 30% of median wage index, once every 12 months including new leases on the same property.
Safe, Secure and Sustainable
Everyone deserves a safe and secure home. Safe from hazardous conditions, and provide the security that we can build a life in our community. No renter should live in a home that risks their health, nor with the constant stress of having to move.
This means ensuring that all rented homes meet livable and energy efficient standards, long-term leases are incentivised, and that these standards are being monitored and enforced.
- Require all Victorian rentals meet minimum standards including energy efficient heating and cooling by 2025
- Require all Victorian rental properties to be registered by 2024
- Expand licensing requirements and enforce regulation of property managers and landlords
Accessible
No-one should have to struggle to find a home while vacant houses sit empty. All available housing should be used to house those who need it, not used as an investment vehicle, for short stay accommodation or for land banking.
People should be able to apply for homes without fear that their privacy and personal information will be used in ways they do not agree to, or shared with people they have not given permission to.
- Broaden and increase Vacant Land Tax to all LGAs
- Restrict short stay rentals to only primary residences.
- Incentivise longer term leases with Bond loans for 3 year lease agreements with rent capped at 30% of median wage.
- After 12 months of vacancy, an unoccupied property requires program lease agreement or land acquisition commences.
Summary Recommendations
- Establish a Rent Price Cap through a residential rental rating system that regulates rent by the standard of the rental property.
- Ban rent increases on all Victorian rental properties until 2025
- From 2026, Limit rent increases to 30% of median wage index, once every 12 months including new leases on the same property
- Require all Victorian rentals meet minimum standards including energy efficient heating and cooling by 2025
- Require all Victorian rental properties to be registered by 2024
- Expand licensing requirements and enforce regulation of property managers and landlords
- Broaden and increase Vacant Land Tax to all LGAs
- Restrict short stay rentals to only primary residences
- Incentivise longer term leases with Bond loans for 3 year lease agreements with rent capped at 30% of median wage
- After 12 months of vacancy, an unoccupied property requires program lease agreement or land acquisition commences
www.rahu.org.au
[email protected]
Twitter: @RAHUnion