The Victorian Greens have said while Labor continues to allow unlimited rent increases, landlords will keep jacking up rents and forcing renters into housing stress.
The Greens say while unlimited rent increases and no-grounds evictions are still legal, Labor's housing crisis will get worse.
Overnight, The Age reported that Melbourne rents had gone up to a record high, with house rents up 14 per cent from the same time last year. For units they rose 14.6 per cent.
The vacancy rate was also reportedly at an ultra-low 0.8 per cent.
Victorian Greens renters' rights spokesperson, Gabrielle de Vietri, said with the cost-of-living hitting Victorians hard the Victorian Labor Government needed to act now.
With the State Budget around the corner, she said Labor needed to stop making decisions that favoured landlords and property investors, and ease the extreme pressures facing renters like unlimited rent increases.
Earlier this week, the Greens also called on Labor to introduce strong short-stay regulations alongside the government's previously announced levy on short-stays.
By introducing a 90-day cap on the number of days a short-stay can be listed, Labor would put pressure on investors to free up homes for renters and first home buyers.
As stated by Victorian Greens renters' rights spokesperson, Gabrielle de Vietri MP:
"Labor's housing crisis is pushing renters to the brink.
"Labor's laws give landlords unlimited power to upend renters' lives, jacking up rents as much as they'd like and kicking renters out of their home for no reason whatsoever.
"82 per cent of renters are in housing stress, and just one rent increase away from eviction or homelessness.
"In May's State Budget the Greens are challenging Labor to make more homes available and affordable for people who will actually live in them. Will they come to the table or out themselves as the party for property investors?"
