Surprise: Tenants Have Struggled To Get Rental Reductions From Landlords During The Pandemic
A third of landlords surveyed for a new report gave no reason as to why they refused a rent reduction
In just a few short weeks, the moratorium on rental evictions will end.
It’s been almost six months since the government moved to protect renters who’d lost income due to the pandemic by banning evictions — with the National Cabinet instructing landlords and tenants to work together in good faith to negotiate any rent reductions.
Now it seems that directive was as naive as it sounded at the time.
As first reported by the ABC, a new report from Tenants Victoria shows that good faith negotiation hasn’t gotten renters very far, with many having to instead settle for a rent referral which leaves them with a huge future debt.
A rent freeze and eviction moratorium means jack shit if 4 months from now no one has the thousands of dollars they owe in backpay rent and get evicted anyway. This is a ticking fucking time bomb.
— Little Nathan Wilburn (@EnvysPistol) April 1, 2020
The Portraits of a Pandemic report also showed that any negotiated reductions were “hard won” and generally lasted for three months or less.
A large number of surveyed renters also reported they expected their tenancies to be at risk as soon as the eviction moratorium ends at the end of September.
Meanwhile, the most common response landlords gave for refusing a rent reduction was quite literally no response at all.
What Did Landlords Say?
Landlords who were surveyed gave a number of reasons for refusing to reduce rent.
But the most common response — given by more than a third of them — was “no reason given”.
Tenants Victoria chief executive Jennifer Beveridge told the ABC it clearly showed the power imbalance between tenants, real estate agents and landlords.
While National Cabinet announced the moratorium actual legislation was passed separately by the states and territories. This led to a patchwork of rules across the country — some allowed “no reason required” clauses that still permitted evictions, and others led to most landlords simply deferring payments, leaving tenants to clock up a huge debt.
The second most common reason given for refusing a rent reduction, given by 22 percent, was “landlord said no/needed income/not eligible”.
The big four banks allowed customers to pause mortgage payments from March, however they did not pause the interest that accrued. That means the extra debt was added to landlords’ outstanding loan balances.
The Australian Banking Association last month announced another four-month extension to loan deferrals for those still in need.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has also hinted the eviction moratorium may be extended, with further announcements to be expected.