‘Not unprecedented’: Greens leader Adam Bandt defends plan to freeze rents

Greens leader Adam Bandt has defended his party’s proposal to freeze rents across Australia for two years.

Greens leader Adam Bandt has defended his party’s pitch for a national rent freeze as a realistic idea.

The Greens have urged the federal government to introduce a two-year freeze, given tenants are facing average annual rent hikes of 17.9 per cent in Australia’s capital cities.

Under the proposal, national cabinet would also sign off capping rent increases at 2 per cent every 24 months, an end to no-grounds evictions, and minimum standards for rental properties.

Landlords have, unsurprisingly, pushed back against the plan and the Albanese government has said it won’t be implementing such a policy.

Mr Bandt on Friday said the proposal “wasn’t really unprecedented”.

“The Victorian government froze rents during the pandemic. We have rent control in other countries,” he told ABC radio.

“At the moment, the brunt of this (housing) crisis has been borne by renters who’ve got nowhere else to go.

“Their incomes aren’t going up, but their rents are.”

Greens leader Adam Bandt has defended the proposal, saying it is needed to help Australians living in regional areas. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Mr Bandt said soaring rental prices and low vacancy rates were particularly affecting regional areas by making it too difficult for people to move there for work.

“People can’t afford to live near where they’re working,” he said.

“People are under enormous, enormous pressure and it’s time to do something.”

Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather spruiked the policy proposal in a series of media interviews on Thursday.

“I think it is a moderate proposal for what is a national crisis,” he told Network 10.

“You know, in British Columbia and in Canada they capped rents this year to 1.5 per cent.

“We know in New York they have rent controls. Hardly would I describe America as a communist country.”

Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather has described the rental policy as a ‘moderate proposal’. Picture: Lachie Millard

The Greens’ proposal follows a warning from the “Everybody’s Home” affordable housing campaign, which said a surge in the cost of rent was hampering regional areas’ ability to attract workers.

The report found that, for example, rents in the Sunshine Coast in Queensland had increased by 36 per cent on average since the pandemic, while job vacancies had risen 259 per cent.

The Greens and housing advocates have urged the Albanese government to consider the link ahead of its jobs and skills summit next week.

As part of its $10bn social housing fund, the Albanese government has promised to build 30,000 social and affordable homes.