Talking Point: Don’t kick out the state’s struggling tenants now

The moratorium on evictions and rent increases for residential tenants in Tassie is due to end on January 31 – but every other state and territory will keep the scheme going, writes Ben Bartl.

• Crisis fears as eviction-free period comes to end
• Over 29pc growth in ‘hot’ beachside suburb

THE moratorium on evictions and rent increases for residential tenants in Tasmania is due to end on January 31.

For the past year, residential tenants have been largely protected from the scourge of COVID-19 through the government’s recognition that a roof over people’s heads is vital in protecting the community against a global pandemic.

As COVID-19 drew closer to home, many Tasmanian landlords reached out to tenants whose employment had been terminated or hours reduced and offered rent reductions.

At the same time, the overwhelming majority of tenants have continued to pay the rent.

This is best demonstrated in the Tasmanian government’s own data, with about 1600 tenants from 39,000 private rental households having applied for financial support.

And, more than 75 per cent of all debts owed by tenants have been repaid in full through the Residential Rent Relief Scheme and the Landlord Support Fund.

However, without an extension of the moratorium, there is a high likelihood of evictions for people who, through no fault of their own, have lost their jobs and are struggling to pay the rent.

Ben Bartl in Hobart. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

It will also result in rent increases for tenants who simply cannot afford any rent increase at this time, with the median Tasmanian rent having increased by 37 per cent over the past five years.

The winding back of the moratorium will coincide with the reduction in JobKeeper and the JobSeeker coronavirus supplements, the possibility of a second wave of the pandemic in Tasmania and the associated economic disruption and general uncertainty as we enter a period of economic recovery.

The economic downturn experienced by Tasmania is highlighted in the most recent data released by the Department of Treasury and Finance which found that the number of unemployed Tasmanians is 33 per cent higher than at the same time last year.

As well, Tourism Industry Council of Tasmania chief executive Luke Martin was recently quoted as stating “Our goal is to get back to pre-COVID-19 levels by 2022-2023. This summer I suspect we’ll land at about 60 per cent of where would normally be” (“Tourism on a new COVID alert,” Mercury, January 1).

The likelihood that tourism numbers will not return to pre-COVID-19 levels for two years will have flow-on effects for the one in five Tasmanians working either directly or indirectly in the tourism industry.

Now is not the time to be withdrawing access to essential services such as housing.

The uncertainty of the next few months and its economic impact explains why most Australian jurisdictions have extended their eviction moratoriums until the end of March.

We therefore call on the Premier and the state government to extend the eviction moratorium until the end of March, in line with NSW, Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and the ACT.

Benedict Bartl is principal solicitor with the Tenants’ Union of Tasmania.