The National Welfare Rights Network has released a report recommending that Commonwealth Rent Assistance (CRA) be increased by 30% and that future increases be linked to housing rent inflation rates rather than the general CPI. It also suggests increasing the rates for Newstart, Youth Allowance and the end to ‘sharers’ rates for CRA.
Mainstream wisdom has it that the tax break for landlords known as negative gearing is also good for tenants. After all, lower landlord costs equal lower rents, right? And if that’s not true, then at least it has expanded the amount of rental housing, resulting in lower rents, yeah? In 2011, our friends at The […]
The 2nd Edition of our guide to renting in Tasmania is now available for download and is in print. Don’t Panic is a 36 page summary of residential tenancy in Tasmania and it has updated information on: Applying for Properties Bond Rent Charges Repairs & Maintenance Privacy Ending a Tenancy Boarding Premises plus a new section […]
Many tenants and housing workers have been asking for a summary of the changes to the Residential Tenancy Act that were passed by the Tasmanian Parliament in September, so here they are. We can’t stress enough that these rules are have not come into effect yet. There has been no announcement about a commencement date […]
Rents fell by 2.5% in Tasmania in the last financial year according to data collected by the Tenants’ Union on our advice line. This is the first fall since comprehensive statistics began to be collected by the Tenants’ Union in 2006. The figures, which are a weighted average of rent, show that rents fell slightly […]
Today is International Tenants’ Day and the Tenants’ Union is celebrating the passing of legislation to introduce minimum standards in Tasmania. Even though some of the standards will not take effect until 2017, it’s important to get the word out now so landlords and agents can start making their properties compliant. The standards require all […]
Tasmania is the first state or territory to have legislated minimum standards for residential tenancies, following the successful passage of the Residential Tenancy Amendment Bill through the Tasmanian Parliament last Thursday. The proposed minimum standards listed below got through unscathed but not without much discussion and some dissent. The standards require a tenancy to be: Weatherproof and […]
Tasmania will be the first state or territory to have legislated minimum standards for residential tenancies, following the successful passage of the Residential Tenancy Amendment Bill through the Upper House last Thursday. The proposed minimum standards listed below got through unscathed but not without much discussion and some dissent. The standards require a tenancy to be: Weatherproof […]
