Unions push for renters to be guaranteed two-year lease

Unions push for two-year rental lease minimum and massive new public housing build In short: The ACTU is pushing the government to give all renters access to a minimum two-year lease. It also wants to increase the rate of public housing being built from one in 50 to one in 10 new homes. What's next? ACTU president Michele O'Neil says the changes will not drive away landlords. Landlords would have to offer renters at least two years on their lease, and the proportion of new public housing would increase fivefold as part of a union proposal being presented to the government. Under current laws, the minimum for lease agreements varies across states and territories, and some, including New South Wales, have no rules in place at all. The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) said a nationwide two-year minimum, with the option for renters to opt for a shorter period, would give renters more stability and allow them to plan. "Having a standard of at least two years across the country would give renters the security of knowing they can stay in their home for at least that period of time," ACTU president Michele O'Neil said. "This would deal with some of the fears that people currently have." The union also wants a return to a Hawke-style model of construction, increasing the rate of public housing being built from one in 50 new homes to one in 10. Public housing is owned and administered by state and territory governments, and the 2026 State of Housing report found public housing stock declined by 1,143 rental units last year, despite annual dwelling completions for public housing increasing 32 per cent over the same period. "If we expand public housing, you will see more rental stock available, and that is going to free up stock in the rental market and make private stock more sustainable," Ms O'Neil said. "It's the combination of measures that need to be put in place — the tax changes from the budget, public housing expansion, and stronger rental rights." According to the ACTU Housing Plan, the union will also be pushing for tighter rules around rent gouging and a long-term goal of at least 6 per cent of total housing stock being public. To get there, it is suggesting removal of GST on the cost of maintaining public housing, and a review of the Commonwealth Rent Assistance setting. Union confident minimum would not drive away landlords A note sent by NAB to its investors showed the bank was projecting a 30 per cent increase in rents in Sydney and Melbourne over the next two years, which it said was in response to the government's tax changes for property investors. The negative gearing and capital gains tax adjustments, announced in the May federal budget, were part of an original push from the ACTU to improve housing conditions for workers. In parliament on Tuesday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese pushed back on the suggestion, and said the bank does not forecast rental yields. "There are no changes to negative gearing for people who owned a property until budget night,"Mr Albanese said. Ms O'Neil also pushed back on the claim, and said she was confident further restrictions on landlords, including the proposed two-year lease, would not discourage investment. "I think it is more likely that some professional landlords are being opportunistic, and some professional landlords are using the tax changes as cover that actually will not apply to them to justify unacceptable rent increases," she said. Modular construction part of productivity solution Ms O'Neil said the union was looking to modular building in factories as a solution to productivity issues in the housing construction sector. "We think modular housing is something that is a real opportunity to expand housing in Australia with high-quality housing, but expanding the stock," she said. Shadow Housing Minister Andrew Bragg is advocating a dramatic rewrite of the National Construction Code to simplify the building process and speed up construction. After a productivity roundtable last year, the government also said it would consider streamlining the code. Ms O'Neil said the union wanted to make sure an increase in housing stock, both public and private, did not come at the expense of quality. "A high-quality house actually makes it more affordable," she said. "It's a false economy if you have maintenance issues, or if your house is too hot or too cold; it causes all sorts of problems for health and security. "We don't want to see any reduction in standards in housing that we build; in fact, we want to make sure that however much income you have, you have a safe home." The union wants the changes to be delivered via the 'A Better Deal For Renters' agreement, which was last updated during a meeting of National Cabinet in 2023. The agreement committed to standardised genuine grounds evictions, a ban on soliciting rent bidding, and a national standard of no more than one rent increase per year. It is not yet clear who will replace Ms O'Neil as ACTU president, after she announced her resignation last month. Last week, ACTU announced public service union boss Melissa Donnelly would take over from Sally McManus as secretary. [Image text:] FOR LEASE R