The number of people renting is on the rise and the review of the Residential Tenancies Act underway in South Australia is very timely.

But I wonder if it will make a real difference? Let’s be clear: changes to the law won’t impact the most pressing issues that are hurting renters right now – the lack of affordability in the market, skyrocketing rents and the scarcity of available properties.

Because we don’t know enough about how tenancies end and there’s a lack of public data to inform decision makers, Shelter SA created an online survey, ‘Moving On’, for landlords, land agents and renters in 2021. The data collection and analysis aims to inform governments and others and monitor changes year on year.

The 2022 Moving On report is out today.  Here are some of the findings and areas that require legislative improvements:

• No cause evictions made up 45% of all evictions reported and must be abolished – there was no breach of the tenancy agreements, but tenants were evicted anyway
• About one quarter of tenant respondents participated in rental bidding, paid an extra bond or both, reflecting high competition in the market. These practices should be banned
• Short term leases are the norm and more than half of tenancies reported lasted less than a year or two years – the private rental market does not offer security to renters
• Bonds continued to be claimed at very high rates, causing financial burdens for renters. This situation must change through improving the bond system
• One third of tenancies were terminated due to owners or families needing to move in and 20% of tenancies were ended due to properties being sold, reflecting the changing circumstances of owners and increased house prices
• Almost a quarter of respondents indicated that their rent increased or became unaffordable yet there are no measures in place to control price rises
• The low vacancy rate has stopped 20% of respondents from securing a new home, and they face homelessness
• More tenants than landlords ended tenancies at 58%, reflecting the need for flexibility in the market, so longer leases are not necessarily the antidote to more secure tenancies

If South Australia really wants to modernise rental legislation, it is critical that no cause evictions and the non renewal of leases (without a breach of the rental agreement) are both abolished and this could slightly improve security in the private rental market. There are more than enough legal alternatives for landlords to remove tenants.

Great tensions exist between the rights of rental property owners to treat their investments as they wish, and the rights of those that desperately rely on those properties for a place to call home

There is a massive $15 million worth of unclaimed bonds in South Australia. We need to work harder to ensure that bonds are returned at a greater rate, with more speed and more often, in addition to looking at a way to transfer bonds between properties to ease the financial pressure on renters who must move frequently.

In the private rental market, you are either the master of your own destiny or a victim of circumstance. Owning and living in a private rental are two vastly different experiences. Great tensions exist between the rights of rental property owners to treat their investments as they wish, and the rights of those that desperately rely on those properties for a place to call home.

We shouldn’t have to make a black and white choice between ‘keeping landlords happy’ and ensuring that people have a home. The fear that greater tenant protections will result in a loss of properties is unfounded and maintaining the power that property owners hold must not be the driver for improvements to renting laws. We must strive to even the playing field while respecting the rights and responsibilities of both parties.

The elephant in the room cannot be ignored either – even though legal rights exist, people don’t always know about them or access them due to fear of reprisal or eviction. Vulnerable renters are at the mercy of a market that doesn’t take their vulnerability into account. Interest on tenant bonds should fund greater education and systems advocacy as they do in other jurisdictions around the country.

The last South Australian look at renting law was in 2014. The quality of the debate in the parliament was disappointing and landlord anecdotes were favoured over evidence-based information.  I am hoping for a more informed discussion this time around, because it might be a long time before we see any change, so let’s make the most of it.

Dr Alice Clark is executive director of Shelter SA