A Fair Go for Renters in SA

With so many South Australians locked out of home ownership, long-term renting is becoming the new normal for more and more people. Between a quarter and a third of South Australians are renters and this number growing every year. With this comes a growing need for affordable and secure long-term rental properties.

Sadly, our current rental laws are inadequate and the system is skewed in favour of landlords and against people who rent.

The ability for landlords to easily evict people for no good reason causes great uncertainty and stress, especially for families with school-age children, who can't be sure where they are going to be living in a year's time. Others live in a climate of fear of being evicted, discriminated against or “blacklisted” if they speak up about repairs or other issues with the property.

People should be able to live in a quality home that is safe and comfortable, with their pets and long-term security of tenure.

The Greens want to redress this imbalance and give South Australian renters better rights and protections.

We want to hear your stories and lived experience of renting in South Australia. By sharing your renting experience, you can help us convince the State Government that the law needs fixing, now!

If you want to be kept up to date on this campaign, please keep the "send me email updates" box ticked so we can send you the occasional update.

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Comments

commented on A Fair Go for Renters in SA 2020-10-03 13:39:57 +0930

There are not many properties around where pets are allowed. I even received a phone call from a real estate agent saying the landlord had accepted my application for a townhouse (I have two rabbits and a cat), then was told by email, not even a phone call, that the landlord changed their mind and didn’t want pets there so rejected my application. I searched for months and applied to so many houses because I refuse to give up my pets which are part of my family. Luckily I had a place to live in the meantime, but I feel for others who aren’t as lucky as me.

commented on A Fair Go for Renters in SA 2020-09-17 17:08:25 +0930

The main discrimination of renters are inspections. These are unjustified invasions of privacy and photo-spying sessions without a warrant that i have never seen outside Adelaide in my 70 yrs of living around the planet. They encourage tenant’s abuse, intimidation, humiliation and threatening; eg: “your toilet was not sufficiently cleaned, so its photo was sent to the owner”. The purpose of landlord’s visits must be repairs. Otherwise, the landlord should be allowed to request an inspection no more than once a year.

Pets interfere with native animals and neighbors. Cats kill fauna while dogs bark.

commented on A Fair Go for Renters in SA 2020-07-02 12:25:36 +0930

I am a retired woman who needs to share a rental home to live within my means.

Since 20 March my co-tenant had to return to help her daughter during the Covid lockdown and so I have been paying a high rental since then and until she returns late July. While I did receive some extra govt funding it is insufficient so cannot cover the rental on my current allowance.

commented on A Fair Go for Renters in SA 2019-12-16 22:44:24 +1030

My brother who has autism and couldn’t afford private rental so went into an apartment through community housing. This apartment did not have air conditioning and he did not cope well through the heat waves. So he went into a townhouse with air conditioning. He went to use the air conditioner for the first time to find that it was not working. I contacted the community house provider and was told it was not the landlords responsibility. I looked into his lease and he did in fact signed a lease with it stating that the landlord was not responsible for the maintenance of the air conditioner. I wasn’t there at the signing and trusted his support worker would of been thorough. He is now in a townhouse with the idea that he would have an air conditioner and now can’t afford to have it repaired himself with his disability pension. The unit of the air conditioner is also on the roof which will need a scissor lift to access. I am incredibly annoyed as now my brother is now stuck in this town house

commented on A Fair Go for Renters in SA 2019-10-21 13:26:58 +1030

Hi

We have been renting for just over 4 years due to change of circumstances and finding it extremely difficult to find a rental property that allows pets. We have 2 large dogs, well behaved, desexed and microchipped and until recently an elderly cat as well.

We have found a number of landlords unwilling to compromise and in all circumstances we are not entitled to obtain a reason why and the owners would rather leave a property empty than take someone with pets even though we both work full time and good references.

In the last couple of years I have increased the rent amount put on an application to try and obtain a lease even though a substantial bond is paid.

commented on A Fair Go for Renters in SA 2019-10-17 10:53:58 +1030

A few rentals back I was in a nice little unit in the North Eastern suburbs, great rental agent, and really lovely landlords, but when I asked during my second year of renting, if I could get a cat as I was lonely and deeply missing having a pet (I’d not been able to have one at my previous rental), I was told no in no uncertain terms. There was no room for negotiation or discussion. It was an absolute no, and led to me searching for a new rental that would allow a pet. Thankfully, I’ve be very lucky since then to have found rentals that have allowed a pet because I honestly don’t know what I’d do if I had to give up my cat in order to have a home. It wouldn’t feel like a home without her. I honestly don’t understand why landlords are so opposed to tenants having a pet (or two), I mean, we already have to pay a substantial bond when we move in so if there was any damage it’s covered.

commented on A Fair Go for Renters in SA 2019-10-16 13:58:20 +1030

I own a rental property and encourage the land agents to accept tenants that have pets because I would not be able to survive without my fur babies . Landlords need to lighten up because karma is watching and to deny people the right to a pet especially when they are alone is very wrong . I hope this bill gets through

commented on A Fair Go for Renters in SA 2019-10-16 11:35:11 +1030

while my kids were growing up we had a king charles spaniel and we had to hide her as most places would not allow animals.

Now my kids are grown and i am animal free.

I would like a cat and a dog or 2 cats, they prolong life, they reduce stress, and they have every right to have a home like humans do.

There is a lot of mental health issues today and pets help to make changes in this.

im not sure of the statistics but one third of the population cannot buy there own home, should we not be allowed a pet because of this?

My story right now is, my kids are all grown up and moved out our family rented home I stayed with my son for 18 months trying to find a place that would allow me to have a cat, during 8 months of hard looking daily not one came up.

The rental market if full of extreemly uninhabital homes that landlords think we should pay top dollar for yet still not allowd animals

The unit im in now wants to know if i even get a gold fish lol seriously this was stipulated to me while handing my bond over.

commented on A Fair Go for Renters in SA 2019-10-16 11:05:06 +1030

I rented with my cat for 12 years in various rentals and I would still inspect homes that didn’t specify ‘pets allowed or negotiable’ and when I met the agent I would tell them I had a cat and I was happy to provide references for having her at previous rentals and also to pay a pet bond. By being open and honest I was never declined. I found most home owners only specify no pets because of the potential damage a pet can cause to a property. If you are a responsible pet owner then providing references and being open to paying a pet bond should resolve the issue for everyone involved.

commented on A Fair Go for Renters in SA 2019-08-02 14:56:59 +0930

I am on of the lucky ones who owns an ex trust home. We waited a few years and began renting then purchased our home. But I’m very concerned about the waiting list which I know of people waiting way too many years to get public house being in a waiting list. I’m very concerned about the homeless here and around Australia and feel all states need to get together to sort this issue out. Like to see one bedroom units for people to rent at a reasonable rate.

Renting in SA - Tell us your story