Take hospitality for example,says Leo Patterson Ross,chief executive of the Tenants’ Union of NSW.
“Food safety laws remain in place regardless of whether you have a customer or not at a restaurant,” he said. “As a person going to the restaurant,you don’t have to go and check if the kitchen is clean and is being run well. We can rely on food safety standards.”
He said the onus is on every individual tenant to enforce minimum standards that did not even exist five years ago.
The minimum standards,introduced in 2020,include the most rudimentary list such as a toilet,hot and cold water and a structurally sound home. Beyond that,it is up for debate as any tenant who has fought with their landlord and/or agent would know.
Real Estate Institute of NSW chief executive Tim McKibbin said the existing legislation was enough and tenants had the option of taking non-compliant landlords to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
“The existing law is there and regulates the market well but unless it’s enforced then there will be non-compliance with it,” McKibbin said. He is more concerned that rental reforms would reduce investment activity and lead to fewer rentals for tenants.
It’s little comfort to renters like Gemma,who spent time communicating with her property manager – and hundreds of dollars – trying to resolve the mould and rats in her home.
Sydney already has an ultra-low vacancy rate,without any significant reforms yet in place. Research also showsinvestors sell their rental properties when they’ve made a profit,rather than tapping out because of dissatisfaction with tenancy law reforms.
With a growing middle-class realisation that the city is stuck in an entrenched escalation of the rental crisis,there is increasing acceptance,and expectation,from the community,including many decent landlords,that if they choose to invest in property it should come with greater strings attached than the status quo.
Patterson Ross said other essential services,like water and electricity,have better checks and balances along the way for prices and quality,than the two million mum and dad landlords who provide shelter for others.
“[Landlords] are almost infantilised ... as the kid at the lemonade stand who doesn’t know what they’re doing and don’t have the same professional obligations as the business selling lemonade.”
He said the government has no register of rental properties,what condition they are in or any disclosure of the issues the tenant might face based on past experiences – all within the scope of government to implement as a way of keeping landlords better accountable.
But as it stands,Gemma’s landlord can re-list the cottage on the market tomorrow if they wanted. It would be snapped up in this rental crisis and there would be nothing to prevent the next tenant from going through the same painful and expensive journey.
Clarification:Gemma Toogood found a rat infestation in her former home,not the one she is photographed in front of.