‘Rent bidding’ banned, hikes capped under new WA tenancy laws

Landlords will soon be prohibited from hiking rents more than once a year and “rent bidding” will be forbidden after the West Australian government’s strengthened tenancy laws passed parliament.

The government pledged $8.9 million in the upcoming budget to support the changes to the Residential Tenancies Act on Wednesday, including via a boost to the resources of the consumer watchdog.

Premier Roger Cook, Housing Minister John Carey and Finance Minister Sue Ellery announced a budget commitment to support the reforms.

The Consumer Protection commissioner will gain a dozen new staff to support the resolution of disputes between tenants and landlords, including bond arrangements and adjudicating applications to keep pets.

The move will allow the commissioner to rule on the issues, removing the need to have the matters brought before the Magistrates Court.

Under the changes, which are expected to come into effect by mid-2024, the permitted frequency of rent increases will double from six months to 12 months.

Rental bidding between prospective tenants will be outlawed and tenants will have the power to challenge retaliatory action by landlords and make minor modifications, while a new bond release process will be in place from next year.

And the rental bidding rules will be monitored via “secret shoppers” installed by Consumer Protection at home opens.

The law overhaul comes as the state grapples with the tightest rental market in the country, with the vacancy rate currently sitting at 0.4 per cent.

A rental market is considered balanced when the vacancy rate sits between 2.5 and 3.5 per cent, according to the Real Estate Institute of Western Australia.

WA Premier Roger Cook and Commerce Minister Sue Ellery said the state had worked hard to get the balance right and provide greater certainty for tenants and landlords.

Ellery said there was no indication the record low levels of vacancy were set to improve in the short to medium-term, meaning the state government had to ensure it did not inadvertently install obstacles for investors.

But WA Greens MLC Dr Brad Pettitt slammed the new laws, insisting the government had done nothing to address the state’s ongoing housing crisis and that the laws could make the situation worse for renters.

And he branded the state’s decision to neglect reforming no-grounds evictions from private rentals or public housing “a complete betrayal of WA renters”.

“Limiting rent increases to once per year simply means struggling renters will be slugged with a massive increase in one go,” he said.

“The WA government is the largest landlord in the state, and they regularly use no-grounds evictions in their own public housing tenancies.

“By ignoring their immediate needs – financial relief and threat of eviction – this government has effectively written off the 700,000 renters in Western Australia as second-class citizens.

“With an election in less than 12 months, the WA Labor government should be worried about their own security of tenure – they’ve given us plenty of reasons to evict them.”

The passing of the laws comes just hours after Independent MP Wilson Tucker rallied alongside housing advocates outside parliament on Tuesday to demand greater protection for renters while revealing he himself had been slapped with a “without grounds” termination notice just days ago.

The reforms stemmed from a review spearheaded by the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety back in 2019 which was put on the backburner amid the pandemic.

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