Tasmanian renters spend more time in cold than mainland counterparts, report finds

Tasmanian rental properties are risking the safety of tenants and putting them at greater risk of serious health issues, an alarming new report has found. FULL REPORT >>

Some renters in Tasmania are shivering through indoor temperatures as low as 0.2 degrees celsius, prompting calls for the state’s residential tenancy laws to be overhauled.

A new project run by tenant advocacy group Better Renting tracked the temperature and relative humidity in 75 rental homes across Australia – including nine in Tasmania – over a seven-week period in June and July this year.

The organisation has detailed its findings in its Cold and Costly report, published on Tuesday, which shows that indoor temperatures were below the World Health Organisation’s recommended minimum of 18 degrees a shocking 75 per cent of the time.

In Tasmania, homes spent the greatest proportion of time below 18 degrees at 91 per cent.

Cold air inflames the lungs and inhibits circulation, which increases the risk of respiratory conditions, as well as susceptibility to infection and cardiovascular risk.

Ellanah Burness and her young family moved to Tasmania from Central Queensland a year ago and now live in a Claremont rental that recorded the lowest minimum temperature across the entire Better Renting project: 0.2 degrees.

Ellanah Burness with her children Izaak Nichols, 5, and Keira Wilson, 9, in their private rental at Claremont. Picture: Chris Kidd

She said the family wasn’t home at the time but described the property as “the coldest rental ever”.

“I’ve noticed that in my family as a whole that we’re definitely sick more in the last 12 months than what we have been ever,” Mrs Burness said.

The Claremont property has a gas heater and a wood fire, as well as a heat pump that doesn’t currently work. But Mrs Burness said the house was “draughty” and it was a constant struggle to keep it warm.

“I generally try to keep the fire burning all the time because once it goes out and everything starts to cool down, it’s so hard to try to get the house warm again,” she said.

Staggeringly, three of the nine Tasmanian properties recorded temperatures below 18 degrees more than 99.9 per cent of the time.

Tasmania’s Residential Tenancy Act requires rental properties to have a fixed electric or gas heater, a heat pump or a wood heater in the main living area and it must be available to use on demand and be “to a reasonable minimum level for the area it is heating”.

The Greens have tabled a bill in the state parliament to strengthen the overall act, which will be debated before the end of the year.

Better Renting executive director Joel Dignam said every Australian was entitled to a warm and dry home in winter.

“Governments are currently working on a framework for minimum rental requirements, and this could be a pivotal first step in helping to make these rental homes fit to live in during winter,” he said.

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