Shadowing Practice: What to do if you are hit with a rent increase - Learn English Speaking with YouTube

Ricardo, it's impossible to talk about the cost of living without talking about renting.

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Ricardo, it's impossible to talk about the cost of living without talking about renting.

And it's a fact that for an increasing number of people,

renting is no longer a lifestyle choice.

It's often the only option for housing.

Yeah, and the crisis has been driven by a demand and supply imbalance,

along with a number of landlords passing on higher interest rates to renters, Peggy.

To tell us more about renting and how that relates to cost of living,

we're joined by Dr Emma Power.

Emma is an Associate Professor of Human Geography and Urban Studies at Western Sydney University.

Emma let's start with the reality as we mentioned in the intro

that it's no longer a lifestyle choice for a lot of people renting it's a way of life.

Yeah that's right Peggy you know in Australia we've always thought of ourselves as being a homeowner nation

but what we're seeing over time is that more

and more people are renting and and they're renting for longer periods of the life course.

So, you know, we used to think that maybe someone would move out of the family home,

they'd rent for a short time,

and then they might, you know,

take out a mortgage and buy a house to live in.

But increasingly, houses are just so expensive,

the cost of housing has gone up so much quicker than incomes in Australia,

that more and more people are locked out and they find themselves renting for their whole lives.

And it can be really tough out there,

particularly for, you know, low income households.

I think we know that a third of the population rents,

a third of the population owns a mortgage,

and a third of the population owns their home.

So a third of the population renting is a huge number.

We know there are structural issues in the sector which are complex,

but we've done a lot of stories on that on SBS News Online,

so our listeners can go there for that.

But if we go to the basics about how we can save money while we're renting,

about how you need to find somewhere to rent,

when you look for a property to rent,

how do you do it?

Yeah, the main way that people will be finding rental properties today is using some of the big commercial property search websites.

So things like realestate.com.au, domain.com.au.

So those websites let people put in the area that they want to rent in,

the number of bedrooms, maybe even the type of place.

Are they looking to live in an apartment or are they looking for a detached house?

Do they need a bit more land?

And what's the maximum rent that they're willing to pay?

And so that's the first starting point for most people.

And you can also go to your local real estate agent as well and see what their listings are.

Is there any way of figuring out what a fair market rate is by postcode in Australia?

This probably varies by state to state.

It's a really good question and that can be a super tricky one depending where people are.

So there are some tools that people can use in different parts of the country.

Now the Tenants Union of New South Wales has got a really excellent rent checker website.

So if you go to their website and look for the postcode rent checker,

you can put in the postcode that you're looking to rent in.

You can tell them how many bedrooms you're interested in and it will tell you what the median rent is.

And so, you know, it's the median,

it's the in the middle point of rents that people are paying.

So you know that there'll be properties that are more expensive and properties that are cheaper.

But it gives you a bit of an indication of which areas might be more affordable.

And it will also tell you what sort of rent increases those areas have seen.

Would it be fair to say that most people would say right now that rents are very expensive?

So in saying that, do landlords have the balance of power at the moment?

And if they do, to what extent?

And is there anything that can be done to cap rents?

That's a really tricky one.

Landlords absolutely have the power in the Australian rental system at this point in time.

So we've got record low vacancy rates.

And what that means is that there's more and more people looking for fewer and fewer properties.

And so it's very difficult for tenants to be competitive and to challenge landlords on property prices in that context.

So if someone does get a property,

you know, rent increase from their landlord, what can they do?

Well, the first thing they can do is actually make sure that the landlord,

the real estate agent, has followed the correct policy in the state that they're in.

So if every state's got a Residential Tenancies Act and

that act actually sets out the laws around how many rent increases are possible.

So maybe it's like one rent increase in 12 months,

depending on the type of lease that you're on.

And it also sets out how much notice the landlord

or real estate agent needs to give to the tenants before they can expect the rent to go up.

So if the landlord or real estate agent haven't followed those rules,

then the tenant's got grounds to say,

well, look, you need to reissue that notice.

And that can give them a little bit more time to work out what they're going to do.

You can also approach your landlord or your real estate agent to appeal against the rent increase.

So if you think that the rent increase is unreasonable,

you can get some evidence.

So some of the forms of evidence,

you could use the Tenant Union of New South Wales Postcode Rent Checker if you're in New South Wales.

You can also visit similar properties in the area where you live.

So say you're in a two bedroom apartment that's of reasonable quality,

find some other two bedroom apartments that are of similar standard,

find out the rental history for those.

So how much are the tenants at the moment paying?

How much did the previous tenants pay?

And you can use that to get a sense of whether the rent that you've been asked to pay is appropriate.

And if you think that the rent is over the odds that the landlord's asking,

then you can use that evidence to appeal to them.

And so there's formal and informal ways of doing that.

So the informal way would be to contact your real estate agent

or landlord and ask to have a chat about the rent and say to them,

look, you know, we think that this is a bit of a high increase compared to other properties in the area.

And you can have that conversation and show them the evidence.

Or you can appeal to the consumer tribunal.

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There's different tribunals and different systems in different states.

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And they can actually sometimes determine if it's sort of an over the odds increase.

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You made a good point.

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So it's a state by state basis.

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There are different rules per state there's not a sort of national standardisation, is there?

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No, that's right.

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So that's one of the limits in Australia at the moment is

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that every single state and territory has its own systems and they're really, really variable.

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So some states have got better protections than other states.

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And so one of the things

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that we really would be great for us to work towards in Australia are some national benchmarks

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and standards that sit across each of the states.

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And for people

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that are in a property who might want to make some changes to the property to make it more comfortable,

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what kind of things can they do without too much expense and without having to risk their tenancy?

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So that's one of the things that really varies state by state.

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So in some states you can make minor changes without asking your landlord.

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So you might be able to put a nail in the wall and put a photograph or a picture up.

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In other states you'll be required to get written permission from your landlord or real estate agent to do that.

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So again, it's really important that people check what the legislation says.

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And if they've got a contract,

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a lease with their landlord,

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which most people will do,

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that will usually set out all of those conditions so they can read that as a starting point.

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I guess if we're talking about what you can do when you're renting to save costs,

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what about when it comes to energy?

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Electricity is one of the big costs for anyone in a home.

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For renters, is there anything they can do or ask their landlord to do for them?

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Yeah, look, housing in Australia is amongst the poorest quality in the world for thermal efficiency.

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And I've heard people describe Australian housing as being like a tent,

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because if it's hot outside, it's hot inside.

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If it's cold outside, it's cold inside.

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You know, they're not very well insulated.

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Our houses are very leaky.

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They let air in and out.

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So, you know, this is something that we want landlords to really step up and take responsibility for.

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And so the first thing I would say is that,

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you know, if people are living in properties that are poor condition,

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if they've got a concern about what's going on in this sector,

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there are some campaigns that are active at the moment

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that are trying to get decision makers across Australia to actually bring in better policies in this sector.

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So organisations like sweltering cities,

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like better renting work in this space.

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You know,

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we can look to places like New Zealand where landlords are actually required to insulate the property to a certain standard.

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So, you know, we can aspire towards that.

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And it does take people who are renting

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and landlords to think about this and to talk to politicians and other decision makers.

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There's also some decisions and practices that people can do in the meantime while they're waiting for,

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you know, hoping for these sorts of changes.

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So, you know, we know that heat comes in and out of houses through cracks around doors.

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So you can get a door snake or even just roll a towel up

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and put it at the bottom of the door

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if there's a big gap and try and block off some of that air.

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You could go to your local hardware store and get some low cost seals to put around the door,

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around the window.

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In some places you might need to check with your real estate agent or landlord to get permission for that.

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You could look for somewhere cool to go.

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So if it's a really hot day,

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you know, heat is a massive risk to health and our cities are only getting hotter and hotter into the future.

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So people can look for cool places to go to.

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That might be a shopping centre where there's free air conditioning,

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where you can just sit,

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you know, take up a bench seat and relax and have a chat with your friends.

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It might be a local community centre or neighbourhood centre that's air conditioned.

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And some councils have actually got programs where they open council

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buildings on really hot days to help people out in that way.

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There's also some little things that people can do if they're moving from property to property.

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So they might think about getting some thick curtains that they can hang over the windows.

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That helps in summer.

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You can block the hot sun that's coming in.

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And in winter, it helps the heat to stay in the house

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so that you're not just constantly heating and heating and heating and that hot air is getting sucked outside.

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Sharehousing.

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Now, sharehousing was once considered the domain of students or possibly people that have recently immigrated to the country,

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but it is a growing reality for a huge demographic of Australia now.

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Older people especially, say people over 40,

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people over 50, are in sharehouse situations.

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How can people in those situations better protect themselves?

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Look, it's worthwhile people thinking about developing sort of written down agreement between the housemates.

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So what that would look like potentially is,

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you know, a document that has all your names on it and that specifies what room you've got access to yourself,

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what's your own private room,

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what are the rooms in the house that you'll be sharing,

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what rent you'll be paying.

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So what's the agreed amount of rent?

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How long do you agree that you'll be living in this house for?

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And a really important one is the bond.

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So often bond is four weeks rent.

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And so if you're moving into a share house where someone else is the head tenant,

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where they have the lease,

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and if you're paying them the bond,

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you want to know that there's a written and signed record

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that they've received it and that you'll be able to get that back at the end.

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And so a written agreement is a really good way of having some kind of evidence

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that you've handed over that money and that you'll be able to get it back at the end.

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And are there drawn up agreements in different states for sub tenants?

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Yeah, look, you can get examples of these from various different websites.

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The Tenants Union of New South Wales,

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again, I would say they've got a really good one of these

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that you can just simply download and put your main details into.

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Some of the consumer affairs

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or fair trading departments in the states across Australia might also have examples of these that you can use.

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If you're looking for a flatmate,

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how do you do it?

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And are there sites, for example,

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that cater to specific groups?

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are a range of commercial websites that people can find.

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So if they Google find a flatmate or something like that,

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they'll be able to use one of these sites.

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And typically what happens in these is that people who have a lease and are looking for new flatmates,

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they might put some photos of their house up,

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they might write a description of their house and the sort of flatmate that they're looking for.

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And if you're looking for a house,

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you might put up a photo of yourself and a bit of a description about,

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you know, the sorts of sort of house that you might be looking for,

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or any lifestyle factors or specific things that you might need in a property.

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There's also Facebook sites that people use as well.

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And so there's different Facebook pages that are for different regions or different cities across the country.

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And there's also Facebook pages for specific groups.

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So there's Facebook pages for single mums,

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for instance, who are trying to find other single mums that they want to rent with,

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or for single older women who are looking for other women in a similar circumstance.

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And so

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that can be a really great way of finding other people who share the same kind of needs

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and interests that you do.

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What kind of checks can you do on potential flatmates,

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though, especially if they're just random people off Facebook pages or off websites?

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Is asking for a police check probably going too far?

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Of course, people need to be really vigilant when they're following up these advertisements,

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and particularly if they're going to a house to check it out.

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And so thinking carefully about how to vet someone is a really, really important thing.

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And different people will have different ways of doing that.

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One of the things some people might want to do is even get a reference from,

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you know, a previous flatmate that that person has lived with.

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They might want to look at their social media.

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They might want to spend a bit of time talking to them on the phone before they agree to meet them.

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They might even want to meet them in a public place before they go to the home.

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I think a lot of these websites have got advice about safety.

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And so it's well worth looking up that information so that you stay safe yourself.

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What about getting further assistance?

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Are there charities, for example,

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that can help out in certain ways?

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Yeah, look, the way that rents are increasing at the moment,

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there's more and more people who are finding themselves in financial stress because of their rents.

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So, you know, it's a terrible situation and it's something

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that we need to tackle at the level of the housing system but if someone finds themselves in crisis,

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there are support services out there that they can go to for a bit of extra help.

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And I'd point people towards a fantastic website called Ask Izzy, it's A-A-S-K-I-Z-Z-Y.

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And that's a website that can connect you with organisations all the way across Australia

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that can support with things like accessing food or vouchers or no interest loans with financial counselling.

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So what you do is you log onto the website,

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you tell them what suburb or what region you're in

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and you click and you tell them what sort of help you're looking for

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and they'll bring up a page that's got a list of the services

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that are available and there's a whole range of things

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so people might need food support for instance

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so there are food banks all over the country where there's dried supermarket goods

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and also some fresh food that's available it's possible to access for some people

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and no interest loans so there are eligibility criteria for some of these

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but a no interest loan might be something

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that someone's needing to look at if their car breaks down

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or they need to pay for their rego

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or some sorts of unexpected medical costs pop up or they need to buy a new fridge suddenly.

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And you can go on this website,

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it can connect you with providers of no interest loans across the country and you can go and apply.

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And if you can show that you can repay the loan,

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that can be a more sustainable way of meeting some of these costs than having to go to a bank, for instance.

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can you give us a checklist

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if you are up for a rent increase what can you do about it

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and who do you speak to is your only option to speak to your agent or can you go to the landlord?

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Yeah look it you can go to either your real estate agent

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or your landlord in some cases your land your real estate agent might feel a little bit put out

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if they feel like they've been bypassed

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but I think what's important to remember is that the real estate agent represents the landlord in these conversations.

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So, you know, when you're talking to them,

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you're talking, they'll hopefully be translating your interests to the landlord.

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But if you talk to the landlord,

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that's the most direct contact.

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And, you know, maybe they'll understand the situation that you're in.

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And as I said, you know,

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you can have a conversation with them about whether the costs are reasonable based on the cost of other properties

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that are similar in the area

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but you could also talk to them about you know your own costs

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and expenses and the struggles that you're in

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so you know somebody might feel

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that this rent increase is going to be unsustainable for them

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but they know that they've been a good tenant

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and they can see

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that what they can offer the landlord by being you know looking after the property

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and by staying in the property for a long time that

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that might also help the landlord's interest because it costs them when they have to change properties.

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Now we mentioned at the beginning that we're in this crisis situation when it comes to the rental market.

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In terms of longer term,

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different initiatives, for example, social housing and so on,

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what are we looking at?

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Is there a positive future when it comes to,

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say, social housing for workers,

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essential workers especially, closer to the city, closer to work?

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Look, it's hard to say at this point,

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but there's certainly lots of conversations about the need to build more affordable housing.

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And so what I would say to people is, you know, get involved.

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Talk to your local council,

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talk to your member of parliament at a state and federal level.

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Tell them about your experiences in the rental sector

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and how difficult it is to get by when rents are going up and,

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you know, when properties are so,

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leases are so short and properties are so insecure.

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Tell them about that and give them a story that they can use to drive change.

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What we need is more investment in affordable housing

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and we need to have tenancy legislation that protects the rights of renters better.

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And so talking to your elected members is one way that you can support some of that policy change that we need.

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And maybe in wrapping up,

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what would your message be to landlords who are wanting to a protect their investment,

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but also balance, I guess,

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their social responsibility to put a roof over people's homes?

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Yeah, look, I think that landlords need to remember that this isn't just an investment,

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and it isn't just a rental property, this is someone's home.

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And so keeping that in mind when they're interacting with their tenants,

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when they're making decisions about property repairs,

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when they're making decisions about whether they should insulate a property or not,

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you know, this is someone's home.

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And I think if our whole housing system put that idea right at the centre,

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I think we'd be in a lot better place than we are right now.

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Dr. Emma Power, Associate Professor of Human Geography and Urban Studies at Western Sydney University.

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Thank you so much for joining us here for the podcast.

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Thanks for the chance to chat.

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And don't forget to subscribe to Cost of Living Secrets for more tips on how to save money every day.

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Shadowing Practice: What to do if you are hit with a rent increase - Learn English Speaking with YouTube

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