On 6 January, Better Renting wrote to the relevant politicians from the Labor, Liberal, and Greens parties, as well as some independents and minor parties, to let them share their positions on housing issues. We asked them:

• • Please tell us about your party’s record and future plans around strengthening rental laws and improving the energy performance of rental housing stock.
  • Please let know about your party's record and future plans around increasing investment in social housing.
  • Please tell us your party’s policy with regard to negative gearing and the capital gains tax discount, or other measures relevant to the tax treatment of property investment.

✱ Federal action on rental laws and energy performance

Better Renting wants the Commonwealth to play a leading role in making rental laws stronger and more consistent across the country. This includes introducing minimum energy performance standards for rental homes, which might be supported by financial supports for social housing &/or private property investors.

✱ Increasing the supply of social housing

Direct investment to increase the supply of public and community housing helps to increase housing supply in general, benefiting all renters, while also providing increased security and affordability for renters most in need. Please let know about your party’s record and future plans around increasing investment in social housing.

✱ Ending tax handouts to wealthy property investors

Negative gearing and the capital gains tax discount cost the budget billions of dollars and increase the price of housing, making it harder for renters to become owners. They also encourage a speculative approach to property investment which leads to greater turnover and instability for renters. Better Renting supports a change to these policies, which may include abolition, a phase out, or tweaks to targeting or conditionality so that they contribute to social outcomes.

✱ Rental laws and energy performance:

"The Australian Greens want everyone to have a safe and affordable home where they can put down roots and build a good life. But right now Australia has some of the worst rental protections in the developed world.

We know Australia needs stronger and actually enforceable national tenancy laws to make renting cheaper, and to protect the millions of renters forced to put up with homes that are freezing cold in winter and boiling in summer, riddled with mould, cracks in the walls, plumbing and electrical faults, and living with constant uncertainty about when they’ll have to move and no long-term security.

The Greens will work with the states and territories to make renting cheaper and more secure including:

National Renters Protection Authority: The Greens will establish the National Renters Protection Authority (NRPA), which will have the power to enforce stronger rental standards and rent caps by independently investigating breaches of rental law and issuing infringement notices and fines against landlords and real estate agencies.

Ending unlimited rent increases: The Greens will freeze rents for two years at January 2023 levels to give renters desperately needed breathing room, followed by limiting rental increases to 2% every 2 years. Rent caps would be attached to the property rather than the lease, making sure there’s no incentives for landlords to evict tenants to jack up the rents, and prices for new rentals will be linked to median local rents.

Giving tenants the guaranteed right to lease renewal and longer leases: The Greens would require landlords to offer lease renewals to all tenants unless they have a good reason not to. This would end no-grounds eviction and protect tenants against not being offered lease renewals in retaliation for seeking to enforce their rights. Landlords would be required to prove they had grounds to evict tenants or not renew their fixed-term lease, such as demolition of the property or extensive renovations, moving in themselves or serious tenant breach, with tenants otherwise having the right to remain even in the case of sale of the property. Renters would have first right of refusal on a minimum 5 year lease allowing them to put down roots and feel like their house can be a home for the long term.

Improved minimum standards: Under the Greens plan, all rental properties would be required to meet minimum standards covering ventilation, adequate heating, cooling and insulation sufficient for a changing climate, freedom from mould and adequate bathrooms, kitchens and security. Tenants would be allowed to make minor modifications, such as putting up shelves and hanging pictures, and would have the presumed right to have a pet.

In 2022, the Greens negotiated $1.7 billion in funding for electrification for households and businesses, targeted at low low-income people and renters to get off gas and save money on their power bills."

✱ Investment in social housing:

"In 2023, during negotiations on the government’s housing package, the Greens secured $3 billion in additional investment for social housing (through the $2 billion Social Housing Accelerator and $1 billion for public and community housing through the National Housing Infrastructure Facility Social and Affordable Housing), six times what the government was originally planning to spend.

In November 2024, the Greens secured an additional $500 million to retrofit another 50,000 social housing properties with energy-efficient, electric and solar upgrades.An estimated quarter of all social homes across the country could be retrofitted under the program.

To continue to invest in more public and community housing, the Greens will:

• • • Double federal funding to states and territories for homelessness services and public and community housing through the National Housing and Homelessness Agreement
    • Provide an additional $2.5 billion per year in extra housing funding, to be spent on building and maintaining more public housing, and funding state-based tenancy authorities and tribunals. States and territories who work with the government to implement rent caps and stronger protections for renters would be eligible for a share of the $2.5 billion.

Additionally, the Greens plan to establish a public property developer which would see the federal government build 610,000 beautifully designed, well-built and energy efficient homes over the next ten years to be rented and sold at genuinely affordable prices. 70% of the homes would be available for rent, with rents capped at more more than 25% of household income (or 70% of market rent, whichever is lower), with 20% of these homes reserved for low-income renters, providing another source of secure, genuinely affordable housing alongside public and community housing."

✱ Tax treatment of property investment:

"The Greens know that tax handouts, like negative gearing and the capital gains tax discount, are turbo-charging the housing crisis, putting more cash in the pockets of property investors to drive up house prices and outbid first home buyers.

Our policy is to end tax concessions for wealthy property investors by:

• • • Scrapping negative gearing for people with more than one (existing) investment property. Scrapping the 50% capital gains tax discount for people with more than one (existing) investment property.
    • By winding back the tax handouts for wealthy property investors which fuel sky-high house price rises and help investors outbid first-home buyers, we can put home ownership in reach of hundreds of thousands more renters, and invest the tax savings into building hundreds of thousands of good quality public homes.

By winding back the tax handouts for wealthy property investors which fuel sky-high house price rises and help investors outbid first-home buyers, we can put home ownership in reach of hundreds of thousands more renters, and invest the tax savings into building hundreds of thousands of good quality public homes."

✱ Rental laws and energy performance:

"The Albanese Government has delivered A Better Deal for Renters, which includes 9 key reforms such as limiting excessive rent increases, banning rent bidding, ensuring minimum standards for rentals, and ending no-fault evictions.

These reforms have been almost fully rolled out across all states and territories, and we will continue advocating for stronger protections for renters and explore additional reforms to be enshrined in State and Territory laws.

In our second term, we will roll out the $2.3 billion Cheaper Home Batteries Program starting July 2025, which will reduce the cost of solar batteries by 30%.

Households with existing solar can save up to $1,100 annually, and those installing both solar and batteries could save up to $2,300 per year, or 90% of a typical family electricity bill.

We are also providing $150 direct energy bill relief for households and small businesses, as well as a $1 billion Household Energy Upgrades Fund to assist Australians in upgrading their homes with energy-efficient appliances and improvements.

The $800 million Social Housing Energy Performance Initiative will improve energy efficiency for social housing, lowering both bills and emissions while improving the comfort and liveability of these homes. Labor's approach stands in stark contrast to the opposition’s plan to cut critical services and potentially increase household energy bills by up to $1,200."

✱ Investment in social housing:

"Labor is making the largest housing investment in a generation, committing $33 billion to build more homes, make it easier to buy and better to rent. Part of this is delivering 55,000 new social and affordable homes over the next five years, including 30,000 homes for vulnerable Australians through the Housing Australia Future Fund (HAFF).

Despite months of obstruction from the Coalition and Greens in Parliament, over 18,000 HAFF homes are now in planning or construction—more than double the total delivered by the previous Coalition Government in a decade.

We are committed to tackling homelessness with $1.2 billion in crisis and transitional housing investments, including the National Housing Infrastructure Facility (NHIF), which opens for applications later this month to support housing for women and children impacted by domestic violence and youth at risk of homelessness.

Under the National Agreement on Social Housing and Homelessness (NASHH), we’ve doubled funding for homelessness to $400 million annually to help address entrenched disadvantage.

Labor has raised Rent Assistance twice, benefiting more than 1 million renters, and increased the rate by 45%, providing much-needed financial relief for Australians who rent.

✱ Tax treatment of property investment:

 

"Labor has no plans to change the current settings for Capital Gains Tax or Negative Gearing, as our focus is on increasing the supply of homes to meet demand.

Our Build to Rent legislation will unlock 80,000 new affordable rental homes, ensuring longer and more secure tenancies for renters across Australia.

Like the HAFF, Build to Rent was blocked in Parliament by both the Coalition and the Greens, delaying the construction of these essential homes for months and preventing them from reaching the people who need them most.

We believe that renting should be a viable, long-term option, not a second-class choice, and we are committed to making it an attractive choice for Australians."

*Note: the Coalition did not directly address any of our questions about renting, or specify any policies directed at improving the lives of renters. Their response is reproduced below.

"A Dutton Coalition Government will:

Boost housing supply to alleviate the shortages that have shut new buyers out of the market.

Fund essential infrastructure like water, power and sewerage at housing development sites.

Fight inflation to take pressure off interest rates and rents.

Reduce migration to sensible levels that our housing supply can handle.

Implement a two-year ban on foreign investors and temporary residents purchasing existing homes in Australia.

Support first home buyers and older women to overcome the prohibitive challenge of saving for a home deposit by allowing superannuation savings to be used to help build their deposit.

Address supply chain constraints and invest in skills development.

Ensure we have an adequate number of skilled visas for those in the construction sector to support our capable local workforce.

Cut red and green tape to allow builders to get on with the job of building more homes, including freezing further changes to the National Construction Code.

Restore the Australian Building and Construction Commission to tackle union corruption that has contributed to driving up building costs by up to 30 per cent.

Maintain the Home Guarantee Scheme, a former Coalition Government initiative to help first home buyers save for a deposit.

Reduce the number of international students in higher education and vocational education each year to ease housing pressure.

Reform the current APRA rules that are a barrier to home ownership. This means reducing the overly cautious serviceability buffer, which was introduced when rates were near zero but remains unchanged even as the cash rate sits above four per cent.

These priorities will ensure we build more homes and fix the housing crisis [sic]"

"Housing affordability and accessibility is a huge issue in Curtin. I have spoken to hundreds of constituents in person at three housing forums and in the community, and online through emails, a survey and social media. Residents told me they want politicians and governments to break the gridlock and work together to achieve three housing goals: secure, long-term housing achievable for all; policies to incentivise appropriate homes; and integration of social and affordable housing into communities.

Which is why I produced the Curtin Housing Policy Paper: Curtin Housing Policy — Kate Chaney

In the paper I recommend improved security of tenure for renters; encouraging institutional investment in build to rent; increased rate of Commonwealth Rent Assistance and reinstating the National Rental Affordability Scheme.

I believe we need to create a level playing field for home buyers by reforming negative gearing and the CGT discount.

I also recommend boosting government investment in social and affordable housing builds. In WA, there are 18,936 people waitlisted for social housing, with an average wait time of 113.5 months. There is an unmet need of 39,200 social and 19,300 affordable homes across WA. The current commitment under stage 1 of the Housing Accord is 2,800 new social and affordable housing builds in WA. While this is a start, this is not enough."

✱ Rental laws and energy performance:

"I have been a consistently vocal advocate for stronger rental laws, acknowledging that much of this resides in state legislation. This included taking a strong position in terms of the removal of no-fault evictions in New South Wales. On the Federal Government’s build-to-rent legislation, I and other house and senate crossbenchers, successfully negotiated with the Government and housing stakeholder groups to include stronger rental protections in future build-to-rent projects.

I have also put forward my Permanent Energy Bill Relief Plan to help everyone lower their power bills for good. The plan provides support to turbo-charge the uptake of home batteries, energy upgrades, and rooftop solar.

Importantly, this plan acknowledges that many renters are locked out of the opportunity to permanently reduce their power bills through improved home energy performance. Renters are dependent on their landlord to retrofit more efficient electrical appliances, install solar, and insulate the home. My Permanent Energy Bill Relief Plan would address this through:

• • • An instant asset write-off to encourage installation of solar, batteries, and energy performance improvements for 276,000 rental properties.
    • Direct funding to support upgrades to over 70,000 social and community housing properties, through expanding the Social Housing Energy Performance Initiative.
    • Implementing mandatory energy efficiency disclosures for rental properties, as the EU has had for over 20 years.
    • Implementing minimum energy performance standards for rentals as is currently in place in New Zealand and France.
    • Banning gas connections to new homes and put in place a roadmap for ending residential gas use.
    • Subsidising home energy assessments for rental propertiesto allow landlords to identify key energy performance improvements.
    • Providing a tax incentive for landlords to replace gas appliances with more efficient electrical alternatives. Allowing landlords to instantly write-off the cost of installing heat pumps, induction cooktops and energy-efficient reverse cycle space heating would drive a 23% increase in rentals switching from gas to electric at budget cost of less than $50 million per year. When combined, these upgrades reduce energy bills by between $514 and $1,594 each year. Such an approach could also be used to accelerate rooftop solar installation and insulation retrofits.

These measures will not only give people power over their energy bills and reduce cost-of-living but, will also make a vital contribution to reducing climate pollution."

✱ Investment in social housing:

"I strongly support the provision of more social and affordable housing. Not only do I strongly support the Housing Australia Future Fund, I would like to see it doubled.

Locally, I have worked closely with my state counterparts, particularly Alex Greenwich, to campaign against the redevelopment of social housing in Wentworth, notably boarding houses in Selwyn Street Paddington where the residents are at risk of redevelopment. I have also made suggestions for other social housing sites in the area and will to continue to advocate for a mix of housing options across Wentworth."

✱ Tax treatment of property investment: 

I believe tax is a key policy lever to solving the big issues Australia is facing right now including housing, but also cost-of-living, climate change, and our economic prosperity. I believe the current tax system is contributing to, rather than addressing the issue that younger generations are falling behind.

I am a strong advocate for tax reform and in November 2024, I released my Tax Green Paper setting out the major challenges we face, including housing, and called on Government to commit to a thorough reform process in the next parliament."