A flaw in the system reveals just how vulnerable renters are in Australia

There’s a massive flaw in the system that reveals just how vulnerable renters really are in Australia, and it could happen to anyone.

There’s a massive flaw in the rental system, and it reveals just how vulnerable Aussies really are.

Melburnian Hiero Badge, an academic and long-term renter, recently discovered just how limited your options are when your landlord hikes your rent.

Hiero, who uses they/them pronouns, told news.com.au their landlord increased rent for their two-bedroom flat in Melbourne’s Collingwood by $550 a month.

They said the sum felt “unreasonable”, but they couldn’t come to an agreement with their landlord.

According to Proptrack just 1.41 per cent of rentals in Melbourne were available in July and that has led to higher rental prices. There’s been an 8.7 per cent increase in prices in Melbourne rentals in 2023.

Hiero Badge is an academic and long-term renter. Picture: Instagram

In response to their housing dilemma, Hiero contacted Consumer Affairs Victoria in the hopes it could step in and find a middle ground so they could stay in their home.

However, their Hail Mary fell flat due to extensive wait times.

Consumer Affairs took weeks to get back to them, and by that point, they’d already been forced to move out and find a more affordable living arrangement.

“We had no choice but to leave. If a renter stays during a disagreement, they are obligated to pay the higher amount of rent until the issue is solved,” they said.

Hiero took to Twitter to vent about the situation, claiming “review system works for landlords not renters”.

Hiero said they put their dispute application to Consumer Affairs when they’d been made aware of the increase, but the application took almost two months to be reviewed, and Hiero wasn’t in a position to wait around and pay the extra rent in the meantime.

“I was already paying more than 30 per cent of my income,” they said.

The increase would tip them over into firm 40 per cent territory, right into “rental distress”. Therefore, they had no choice but to move out.

Hiero moved out because they couldn’t afford the extra rent. Picture: Instagram

They’ve shared their rental story to help other Aussies. Picture: Instagram

It wasn’t until they’d handed their keys back to the real estate that they recieved a call about their application.

Hiero said that while their landlord had given them a few months of warning about the increase, most people only get around 30 days.

They worried that if Consumer Affairs is taking weeks to respond, most renters would have likely already had to move out or would be living under financial strain.

The part Hiero found most uncomfortable to swallow was that by the time Consumer Affairs did get back to them, because they were no longer a tenant at the property, the matter was automatically closed.

“CAV closed our case as soon as they opened it, leaving us with no other avenues. The system is slow and biased in favour of landlords,” they said.

Hiero takes further issue with the fact that when they spoke to the Consumer Affairs employee on the phone, they explained their case likely wouldn’t have stood a chance anyway.

“It is cooked,” they said.

There's been a rental surge across Australia. Picture: Istock via ymgerman

So, why?

Hiero said there had been no renovations made to their rental, not so much as a new lick of paint to explain the increase.

“The man on the phone said that looking at the data, it showed that our rental increase wouldn’t have been considered unreasonable,” they said. “In fact, he said the landlord could have increased the rent in further to around $690.”

Hiero said from their understanding, Consumer Affairs measures if a rental increase is fair by the median rental price in the suburb. So it isn’t about your apartment specifically, but other apartments in the area.

In Hiero’s case, this measuring system didn’t work in their favour because they were living in Collingwood, where many new apartments had gone up, dragging up the median apartment price.

“It is this vicious cycle happening here,” they said. “New properties are going up and then landlords who own pre existing dwellings are using those as opportunities to raise the rent.”

Consumer Affairs Victoria told news.com.au: “Victoria has some of the strongest protections against unfair rent increases in the country. Renters can apply to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal to challenge a rent increase if they believe it is unfair.

“Renters can also ask Consumer Affairs Victoria to investigate and provide a report to support an application to VCAT (Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal) if they believe a rent increase is excessive.”