‘‘ASIC should provide clear guidance that a lender must consider whether someone seeking an investment loan can afford reasonable maintenance and repair costs,’’ the CPRC stated in its submission.

‘‘This should consider the state of the property at the time of purchase and the natural lifecycle of household basics, including heating/cooling systems, age of appliances and general annual upkeep.’’

The CPRC cited a 2018 survey which found more than half of Australian renters were living in a home in need of repairs, and 2020 research that showed a quarter of all Australian renters lived in housing that made them sick.

Mould and collapsing ceilings

Renters’ advocate Jordan van den Lamb, known as @purplepingers on social media, told TND it was common for landlords to tell tenants they could not afford repairs.

This has caused renters to live with broken appliances, asbestos concerns, insect or rodent infestations, mould and more, with little options for recourse.

‘‘I’ve seen properties where the ceiling has literally fallen in and collapsed on renters while they lived there,’’ van den Lamb said.

‘‘[Renters are] paying more and more money for worse and worse quality rentals.

‘‘And often they’re either too scared to raise concerns about … the conditions of the property because they fear eviction, which is a completely fair thing to fear, or if they do raise the concern, nothing is done and there’s no enforcement.’’

Sam told the real estate agency that the ceiling of his NSW rental was in danger in November last year. This month, it collapsed.

Sam’s now received an eviction notice and is couch surfing – do you think that’s fair?

Video coming soon. pic.twitter.com/j6ZwbcQgmU

— Purplepingers ☭ (@purplepingers) May 30, 2024

A Better Renting survey released in August found concerns from renters over retaliation or inaction were well-founded.

One renter said they had been evicted due to reporting water damage, lack of air conditioning and black mould.

Another discovered their new rental had no gas connection after shivering through a winter with a newborn baby, despite it being included in the lease; nothing was done when they asked for the issue to be addressed.

Better Renting executive director Joel Dignam said landlords were increasingly getting away with dodging their responsibilities as the tight rental market meant tenants were easily replaceable if they got frustrated enough to leave. 

He said it made sense for banks to do due diligence on property investors to make sure they could afford to pay for more than a loan.

‘‘If we’re lending someone money to make an income by renting out a property, do their numbers stack up?’’ Dignam said.

‘‘Will the … income be sufficient, not only to cover the mortgage, but to cover their costs as a landlord, including repairs, but also various other costs?

‘‘That is a basic financial probity measure [banks] should be taking before lending someone money, which is also making sure, ‘Is this person going to be following the law in their business operation?’’’

More enforcement

Although supportive of the CPRC’s recommendation, van den Lamb said many landlords crying poor could already afford repairs – they just did not want to pay, even when legally required.

‘‘We need to see the state enforcing … legislation, instead of requiring renters to sue their landlords knowing that they can face eviction or an unfair rent increase,’’ van den Lamb said.

‘‘In what other world does an individual enforce the legislation of the state?

‘‘Like, if we take criminal law, you don’t get individuals prosecuting murderers and stuff like that. It’s the state that takes them to court and prosecutes them.’’

If a landlord genuinely could not afford repairs or maintenance, van den Lamb said they should sell their properties since they could not provide the basic product tenants pay for – a habitable home.

Dignam said landlord training and licensing should also be considered.

‘‘It’s sort of astonishing that there’s not really any hoop you need to jump through to become a landlord in Australia,’’ he said.

‘‘If you own a property, off you go.

‘‘That gives you a huge amount of power over someone’s life, and a few more checks just to make sure that people with that power can wield it appropriately would be a good idea.’’

With about 40 per cent of Australia’s federal politicians owning three or more properties, questions have also been raised about politicians with large real estate portfolios being charged with legislating solutions to housing issues.