Less than ten percent of tenants have got requested reductions due to job losses

So much for lockdown rent discounts: Less than ten percent of tenants have got their requested reductions during the coronavirus recession

  • Promises of rental reductions during the COVID-19 crisis have not been realised
  • A new survey found only nine percent of renters have been granted a reduction 
  • Two thirds of tenants reported losing household income during the downturn 

Despite government posturing that tenants affected by the COVID-19 crisis could receive a rental reduction, a new survey has found those renters are still getting a raw deal.

The report by Better Renting revealed that fewer than 10 per cent of tenants who had asked for rental relief actually received a satisfactory discount from their landlords.

It was a meagre outcome given that 63 per cent of the 1000 tenants surveyed reported losing household income during the pandemic due to job losses and reduced hours.

Despite government posturing that tenants affected by the COVID-19 crisis could receive a rent reduction, a new survey has found renters are still getting a raw deal

Back in March, Prime Minister Scott Morrison and the national cabinet introduced a six-month moratorium on rental evictions, which was rolled out by the states.

There was no binding legislation which required landlords to reduce prices if their tenant was impacted by the COVID-19 downturn.

But Mr Morrison urged renters and property owners to engage in ‘good faith’ negotiations to solve the problem.

‘There was a naive hope on the part of government that landlords would play their part in helping tenants through the COVID-19 crisis,’ executive director of Better Renting Joel Dignam told Daily Mail Australia on Thursday.

‘But what we found was that renters were very reluctant to ask and renters who did ask, it did not go very well.’

In Queensland and Victoria, tenants could apply to an arbitration tribunal for a rent reduction if both parties could not reach an agreement.

A report by Better Renting revealed that fewer than 10 per cent of tenants who asked for rental relief actually received a satisfactory result from their landlords

A report by Better Renting revealed that fewer than 10 per cent of tenants who asked for rental relief actually received a satisfactory result from their landlords

‘Generally, the guideline was that tenants had to have lost 30 percent of their income,’ Mr Dignam said.

‘But we found that two thirds of renters had suffered an impact on their income and of those only nine percent ended up being granted a rent reduction.’

The report also found 20 percent had their rental relief request denied, 7.5 per cent had their rent deferred and would be made to pay money back at a later date, and 4.5 per cent were given a ‘trivial reduction’.

Rental advocates now fear that when the ban on evictions comes to an end in October, landlords will move to remove tenants who were not paying the full rent.

Two thirds of the 1000 tenants surveyed reported losing household income during the COVID-19 lockdown

Two thirds of the 1000 tenants surveyed reported losing household income during the COVID-19 lockdown

Mr Dignam urged the government to take measures to avoid this ‘rent bomb’.

‘State and federal governments are wary of the risks of letting a large number of tenants get evicted,’ he said.

‘We see a need to expand these protections against evictions because at the moment renters have been getting into debt and they simply can’t keep paying.

‘That’s a bad thing at any time, it is particularly bad in light of the ongoing economic impact, not to mention the health issues around the spread of coronavirus.’

'There was a naive hope on the part of government that landlords would play their part in helping tenants through the COVID-19 crisis,' executive director of Better Renting Joel Dignam told Daily Mail Australia

‘There was a naive hope on the part of government that landlords would play their part in helping tenants through the COVID-19 crisis,’ executive director of Better Renting Joel Dignam told Daily Mail Australia

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