Page 617 - Week 02 - Thursday, 21 February 2019
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terminations in the ACT. That is a view that is shared by some key advocacy groups in the community. I am aware of recent changes to residential tenancy laws in Victoria which included the removal of the ability to effect no-cause terminations.
The present bill does not make any changes in relation to the existing framework for no-cause terminations. In our view, at the moment there are sufficient checks and balances for tenants and landlords. Currently, the tenant cannot be required to vacate during the fixed term of the lease, and to terminate a periodic tenancy without cause the lessor must give the tenant six months notice. The notice for with-cause termination periods is shorter, between four and 12 weeks.
It is important to get any changes to the current framework right, given the sensitivity, and the sensitive nature of the decisions to end leases. We need to make sure that the changes do not inadvertently reduce protections for tenants. I can assure the Assembly that the government will continue to work in this area.
Another issue that requires further work is the minimum standards in rental properties, including energy efficiency standards. The Make Renting Fair Alliance and the ACT Greens have urged the government to establish standards at this stage. I am aware of a private member’s bill that my colleague Mr Rattenbury tabled some time ago in a previous assembly a number of years back. The government of the day, including the then Attorney-General, Simon Corbell MLA, described the intention of the bill as noble, but had concerns about how it would operate in practice. These included considering whether the costs of retrofitting, to bring rental properties up to the minimum standards, would be passed on to the tenants in the form of higher rents, and whether rental supply may be reduced if properties were withdrawn from the market due to the costs of retrofitting.
The government shares Mr Corbell’s views on this issue. The aim is noble. The practicalities need more work. The last thing that we want is higher costs for tenants or fewer properties available for rent. I have asked the Justice and Community Safety Directorate to give further consideration to the minimum standards so that we can have an informed debate on the merits of this proposal at a later stage.
On these and other issues, the government will continue to listen to the community to drive a reform agenda that meets the needs of current and future tenants. Today’s bill is a key milestone in that effort.
When it comes to the particular proposed new clauses, 4A, 4B and 4C, the government supports the introduction of 4A. That gives prospective tenants more information up front about the lease terms that might differ from a standard residential tenancy agreement.
However, the government will not be agreeing at this stage to the introduction of 4B and 4C. As I have flagged, we believe that there is more work to be done in this area. We do affirm that every tenant has a right to a habitable home. The government absolutely supports that principle. We want to keep working on fair residential tenancies legislation, while responding on the basis of thorough consultation and evidence, and we will do so in the fullness of time.
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