Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Consumer Affairs Commissioner Sandra Otto discusses rental increases and renters' rights

Transcript

Consumer Affairs Commissioner Sandra Otto discusses rental increases and renters' rights · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Now joining me on the line is Sandra Otto, the
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: commissioner at the Northern Territory Consumer Affairs. Good morning to you, Sandy.
• 0:08
  Speaker 2: Good morning, Katie. How are you very well?
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: Thank you so much for your time this morning, and
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: sorry to keep you waiting.
• 0:13
  Speaker 2: That's okay, now we have been we've.
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: Been receiving quite a few messages and calls in recent
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: weeks about people Territory and is pretty concerned about their
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: rents going up significant amounts of money and in some cases,
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: obviously you know they're staying in those locations, but those
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: rents are going up, in some cases a couple of
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: hundred dollars a fortnite, Sandy, is this something that is
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: being raised with the with you guys at the.
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: Moment, Yeah, Katie. We've had a significant increase in calls
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: to do with rent increases, particularly when landlords are demanding
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: that tenants get out of their property. Some landlords have
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: been unreasonable, but there's within the Residential Tennessee Actors time
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: frames that people need to be aware of. And if
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: you think the landlord's been unreasonable in any request, just
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: ask them to give give us a call and we
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: can walk them through that.
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: Sandy, when you say that there has been an increase
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: in the number of calls that Consumer Affairs are receiving,
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: do we have a ballpark idea?
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: Well, for example, I know the figures from last year,
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: we had about a fifty three percent of all our
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: calls that were to do with residential tenancies. This year
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: was fifty six percent, So it has jumped up significantly,
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: and we sort of find the increase in calls. You know,
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: when the rental market titans, people want to be able
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: to stay in their homes and sometimes they just simply
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: can't afford it if the landlord increases the rent significantly.
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: In those sort of cases, I sort of sort of
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: say to the tenants that they should be negotiating with
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: their landlord, and the landlord needs to look at what
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: the tenants are like. If they're really really good tenants,
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: will you know, sort of make sense to try and
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: keep them there. And if they do have to increase
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: the rent for whatever reasons, make sure it's a reasonable amount,
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: not something that's impractical for people to pay.
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: And Sandy, it's such a tough one. I know that
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: you know that yesterday David had emailed us and said,
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: we're like so many other families who are renting. We're
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: going to be rewarded for being great tenants with an
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: increase of one hundred and thirty dollars per week. Apparently
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: that's how you reward tenants for looking after your rental.
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: And you know, that's just a sentiment of one person yesterday.
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: I know that this is something that we're hearing a
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: lot of. By the sounds of it, it's something that
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: you're hearing quite a bit of. But what are people's
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: rights and what can they actually do if they are
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: in one of these scenarios.
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: The landlord cannot raise your rent. So you've got a
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: fixed turn tenancy for twelve months, and you know, in
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: four months from the tenancy starting, the landlord wants to
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: increase the rent. They cannot do that unless there's action
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: in their tenancy lease that allows them to do that.
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: And if they do, it needs to be a dollar
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: amount or some calculation as to the rent increase, and
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: it can only be after six months and they must
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: be given thirty days notice. So there are some limitations
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: in there. And we've been hearing of tenants just saying, well,
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: I'm going to have landlords saying that they're just going
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: to put the rent up. They can't do that. It
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: needs to be within the confines of the lease.
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and obviously that lease has has got those terms
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: in place and also a period of time that those
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: terms are in place for. If somebody out there listening
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: this morning is thinking to themselves, we'll hang on my
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: landlord is trying to do just that, what are their
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: best options?
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: Just ask them to have a talk to the landlord,
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: get on to read their lease and if they're not sure,
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: if the clawn on one eight hundred nine three one nine,
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: and we'll be able to walk it through with them.
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: But the other thing is we've also been hearing about
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: landlord not giving enough notice at the end of the tenancy.
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: If they want to allow us the tenant to leave,
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: it needs to be sixty days at the moment, and
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: that's in line with the current health emergency period. It
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: needs to be fourteen days for periodical and forty two
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: days for a fixed term. But that needs to be
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: looked at as well. And what we're seeing is people
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: are only giving a couple of days notice and saying
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: we want you out, We're going to increase the rent.
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: If you want to stay, you have to pay that
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: amount and they just need to be reasonable. And I'm
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: just asking tenants to give us a call.
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: Yeah, which I think is totally fair enough. I mean,
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: this idea of same house, no improvements. Does that sort
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: of factor in at all in terms of how much
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: a landlord can raise the rent as well?
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: I think some landlords just look at what's happening in
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: the market, and I think they can increase the prices
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: like that. There is a provision in the Act for
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: excessive rent, but that needs to be within a current
• 4:57
  Speaker 2: lease and that is determined by the of the Territary
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: Civil and Administrative Tribunal. So that is an avenue for
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: some people. And I don't know how they calculate that
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: or look at that, but that may be an avenue
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: for some people. And I guess what in circumstances like
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: that that look at the market rented at that time,
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: and I know it has gone up. I do know
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: that the vacancy rate has increased a little bit. So
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: it was zero point four percent vacancy rate in June
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: and now it's up two point seven. So there may
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: be a few more properties on the market that are
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: available at the moment.
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: Yeah, And that certainly gives those rents a few more options.
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: And I totally understand. You know, I am someone who's
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: fortunate enough to have an investment property, and I am
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: totally I totally understand there's in some cases, you know,
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: landlords do want to just make sure that they're getting
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: a fair rental price for their property. But in other cases,
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: you think, wow, this is a bit ridiculous, particularly if
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: you've got someone who's been a great tenant, you know,
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: over quite a long period of time.
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: And that's exactly right, and landlords need to look at
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: the fact that if a tenant can't pay their rent,
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: that they might be in a situation where where there's
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: a lease break, and if the vacancy continues to rise,
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: well there's more properties on the market. It may take
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: longer for the land or to actually get someone in
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: that's willing to pay the price they're asking.
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: And I mean, is it a hope for you that
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: you know, realistically, that you know that people are just
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: doing the right thing, that landlords will just do the
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: right thing and not be greedy.
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: We've heard a lot of stories from both sides. There
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: are tenants out there that have said that their landlord's
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: been quite reasonable and in generally in those cases the
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: tenants are good tenants. And you know, on the opposite side,
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: we hear some landlords that have been totally unreasonable. And
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: what we're sort of saying to people again is, you know,
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: if you've got a good tenant, look after him, and
• 6:46
  Speaker 2: I'm sure they'll look after you as well and look
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: after your property.
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: Yeah, Sandy, where should people head to if they are
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: after a little bit more information from consumer affairs.
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: Yeah, we've got some significant information on our website and
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: at the owned with the COVID nineteen there are some
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: moderic modifications to the Rental Act and on our homepage
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: it simply says COVID nineteen information businesses and consumers. Just
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: click on one of the quick links there that reverge
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: the rental changes and that can be found on our
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: website at Northern Turgy Consumer Affairs.
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: Well, Sandy Auto, the Commissioner of Consumer Affairs, I really
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: appreciate your time this morning. Thank you so much for
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: having a chat with us.
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: Thank you, Katie, thank you