Editorial by REIV Interim CEO Jacob Caine, Published in the Herald Sun on 19 July 2025
The significant challenges facing Victoria’s rental market are well known. Rents have risen dramatically, vacancy rates are at record lows, and pressure is mounting on all sides. Renters are understandably struggling. But so too are rental providers who are navigating a system that is increasingly inequitable and often financially unviable.
In just four years, more than 130 legislative changes have reshaped the rental landscape. Many of these reforms were necessary and have strengthened protections for renters. But the cumulative effect has tipped the balance too far. We now have a system out of alignment, placing unsustainable pressure on the people who supply the very homes our rental market depends on.
Let’s be clear: renters’ rights matter. They are fundamental and not up for debate. But so too do the rights of rental providers. This is not a battle of competing interests. It is a simple truth that when one side of the rental relationship is continually disadvantaged, the entire system begins to break down.
That is why the Real Estate Institute of Victoria has called for urgent, evidence-based amendments to the Residential Tenancies Act through our Striking a Balance submission to the Victorian Government. Our recommendations are targeted and proportionate, designed to restore fairness and confidence across the market.
One recommendation is to align the rights of private rental providers with those already available to public housing. In public housing, renters who engage in drug-related activity or provide false information on their rental application can be evicted. In the private rental market, that same safeguard does not exist.
This is not about cracking down. It is about common sense. If such a breach is not tolerated in public housing, it should not be tolerated in private rentals either.
We are also recommending changes to make it easier for rental providers to obtain possession of a property where there is ongoing non-payment or delayed payment of rent or serious breaches of tenancy obligations. In addition, we believe that notice periods should be aligned, so that both renters and rental providers are required to give fair notice if circumstances change.
These are not radical reforms. They are measured steps that would allow rental providers to manage their properties more effectively, reduce risk, and maintain supply in a market already under strain.
Because the truth is simple. If we want to restore stability to Victoria’s rental market, we need to re-establish balance. And balance is not a nice-to-have. It is a necessity.
If we continue to disenfranchise the people who provide rental homes, we risk watching this fragile ecosystem collapse. And if that happens, the consequences will reach far beyond housing policy, affecting the lives and livelihoods of Victorians right across the state.