The Victorian Greens have welcomed the Premier's announcement this morning that the government will introduce reforms to make life easier for renters across the state.
These are reforms the government first announced last year under sustained pressure from the Greens and the community to do more to fix the worsening rental crisis.
The Greens also helped secure the new ban on rent bidding and no-grounds evictions that will come into effect in November.
But while landlords and real estate agents can still exploit renters and jack up rent prices as much as they like, renting will remain unaffordable and insecure.
The Greens will keep fighting for rent controls so everyone can afford a roof over their head and save enough to buy a home for themselves.
Last month a Tenants Victoria report found that renters continued to face outrageous rent hikes, with 80% of rental providers raising rents in the past two years, with an average rental increase of 17%.
This is despite CPI increasing by only 2.4% in the last year.
As stated by Victorian Greens renters rights spokesperson, Gabrielle de Vietri MP:
"These are no-brainer reforms that will help stop landlords taking advantage of renters and using bonds to profit off renters.
"The Greens have pushed for this for years alongside the community, to help alleviate the worsening housing crisis.
"But they're a clear sign of the power imbalance between landlords and renters. As long as unlimited rent rises are legal, renters will live in fear of the next rent hike, and be forced to move time and again just to try to afford the rent.
"If Labor actually cared about protecting renters - not just property developers and investors - they would introduce rent controls."
