Melbourne renters are being slugged with the fastest rent increases in the country, with new figures showing the city's median weekly rent jumped by more than $20 (3.5 per cent) to $600 in the June quarter.
The Victorian Greens say today's figures are proof that Labor has failed to protect renters from unlimited rent hikes, with landlords continuing to jack up rents simply because they can.
Independent modelling by the Parliamentary Budget Office shows that if Victoria froze rents for two years from March 2026 and permanently capped future rent increases to wage growth, the average Victorian renter would save $15,590 by 2030 and more than $120,000 by 2040.
As stated by Victorian Greens spokesperson for Renting, Gabrielle de Vietri:
"Renters keep getting hit with outrageous rent increases simply because landlords know they can get away with it under Labor.
"These figures make one thing crystal clear: we urgently need rent caps.
"Rent caps would save the average Victorian renter more than $15,500 over the next four years. That's money people could spend raising their kids, paying the bills or saving for a home-instead of paying off their landlord's house.
"Renters don't need more excuses. They need lower rents.
"The federal government's housing reforms haven't even kicked in yet. These rent hikes aren't about absorbing higher costs-they're landlords taking the piss because nothing is stopping them.
"Victorian renters deserve a government that's on their side. Labor will always side with the property industry because they are funded by them to stay in power. The Greens are the only ones with the guts to do what it takes to tackle the housing crisis - cap rents, build public housing, end the special treatment for property investors and corporations."
Background
The Parliamentary Budget Office estimates a two-year rent freeze from March 2026 followed by permanent caps linked to wage growth would save the median Victorian renter:
$15,590 by 2030
$53,517 by 2035
$120,406 by 2040.
Rent controls are a key pillar of the Victorian Greens election policy plan leading up to the 2026 Victorian State election, where the Greens are tipped to win more seats from both Labor and the Liberals. The Greens policy includes:
an initial 2-year rent freeze to give wages the chance to catch up to rents followed by a cap on rent increases to go up no more than the wage growth or CPI, whichever is lowest, of that year in any one year.
Tie rent increases to the property, not the tenant - so renters can't be kicked out for a landlord to put the rent up.
A ban on rent increases for two years at the start of every tenancy, to give renters security when they move house.
