[DOMAIN文章转帖] Rent law revamp to lure investors

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Rent law revamp to lure investors
Author: Andrew Clennell
Date: September 26, 2007
Publication:  Sydney Morning Herald (subscribe)

Tenants face swift eviction if they fall behind in their rent and many will have to pay water charges currently borne by landlords, under the first big overhaul of NSW's tenancy laws in 20 years.

But tenants' rights will also be boosted. If landlords default on their mortgages and their properties are repossessed, tenants will be guaranteed at least 30 days' notice to move out.

And for the first time, renters who need to move out of a share house or a relationship will be able to be apply to have liability on their part of the lease waived.

The changes are partly about "encouraging investment and people back into the property market", the Fair Trading Minister, Linda Burney, told the Herald.

"At the moment it can take three months to [evict tenants] and that's a long time." That will be about halved under the new legislation to cut the "red tape".

"Encouraging investors back into the market should help to reduce Sydney's rental squeeze," Ms Burney said. The rental vacancy rate in Sydney is just 1.5 per cent, and this adds to the housing affordability crisis.

The State Government will release its plans for public comment today - after several years of reviews - before introducing legislation early next year.

The tenancy tribunal now confronts more than 20,000 cases involving rent arrears every year, and the Government wants to cut its workload.

Under the changes, tenants who fall behind in rent would have "the onus placed on them to apply to the tribunal" if they wished to contest their eviction - rather than landlords having to justify their case. The tribunal could make a decision on the application swiftly without need for a hearing.

But the laws will also protect tenants who become victims when landlords default on their mortgages. The planned 30-day eviction warning follows horror stories of tenants arriving home to find the locks changed.

On the rights of renters leaving a shared tenancy, Ms Burney said: "The issues of co-tenancy are really important - particularly where you might have a domestic violence situation."

Other planned changes include: A right to a reduced rent if a landlord puts the property up for sale and prospective buyers traipse through; Greater rights for tenants to put up pictures or paint properties; Water charges to be levied on all tenants in properties with separate meters to provide "uniformity". A similar move in public housing resulted in a 29 per cent cut in water use; Powers for the tenancy tribunal to remove tenants from databases that real estate agents use to reject applicants; Cancelling eviction notices if a tenant can pay their rent arrears before the eviction date.

The Government plans to stop the payment of interest to tenants on their bond money. Currently the rental bond board returns the money after tenants move out of a property, with an interest payment of 0.01 per cent. That is just $80,000 a year on the $650 million in bonds that it holds.

The principal solicitor for the tenants' union, Grant Arbruthnot, said it was "retrograde" to put the onus on tenants when they fall behind in rent. It would hurt people with low literacy and of non-English speaking background the most. The Government claims those people would receive special consideration.

Ms Burney, a former chairwoman of the Council of Aboriginal reconciliation, said it was about achieving a "balance" and she stood on her record of "protecting the rights of the vulnerable".

The Real Estate Institute of NSW welcomed the quicker dispute resolution but needed a closer look at the detail.

[ 本帖最后由 zn7726 于 2007-9-26 15:40 编辑 ]

villa

改革房屋租赁法将有助于缓和悉尼目前紧张的租房市




9月27日消息  新州政府提出要改革目前的房屋租赁法，并指出租赁法的改革将有助于缓和悉尼目前紧张的租房市场。

但反对党表示，出租房屋短缺的危机不仅仅是悉尼的问题，这一危机影响新州的许多地区，政府提出的改革草案不足以解决问题。

据报道，新州公平交易厅长伯恩尼（Linda Burney）上周末公布了一份讨论报告，报告详述了102项立法修改，目的是给房东和房客提供“更公平的”权利，并吸引投资者重回房屋投资市场购房出租。她说，新州现有的租房法是在70年代后期订立的，“现在是时候进行审查了”。

据悉，本次的租房法改革包括：

水费将由房客支付，以鼓励他们节约用水；
缩短赶走不支付房租租客的期限；
增加租客自掏腰包对房屋做细小改进或增加安装装置的灵活性；
如果房主决定出售房子，房客将有权要求房租打折；
如果房主还贷出现问题，房客将保证有30天的搬出期。

伯恩尼说：“这将是新州过去10多年来，租房法的最大修改，我们正在考虑…所提出的102条立法修改提案，其中一些是非常重大的修改。”

新州反对党表示，对于覆盖全新州，包括纽卡斯尔（Newcastle）、北河地区（Northern Rivers）、新州中西部地区（central west）和部分的南部海岸（South Coast）地区衰弱的租房市场来讲，这些修改是“太细小，太迟了”。反对党领袖奥法莱尔（Barry O'Farrell）说：“只要政府延迟推出土地，不提供税务优惠，一份厅长办公室的讨论报告并不足以缓解悉尼的住房承负能力和租房市场的危机。”

奥法莱尔承认他还没有看过讨论报告，但他说，政府应该减少土地税和印花税以鼓励投资者购买投资房屋。他说：“工党的高税收和高收费迫使投资者和开发商逃离租房地产市场，这是导致给房客和房东房屋市场压力的原因。”

伯恩尼上周末在悉尼内城区达尔维奇希尔（Dulwich Hill）参观了一所开放给租客查看的出租房屋，在那儿她公布了法律改革讨论报告，并要求公众对此提出建议。她说：“和今天来查看这个房子的人交谈，好几个人都说找一个出租房子太难了。那些以提供假期和几个星期免房租来吸引租客的日子一去不复返了…世道绝对是变了。”

伯恩尼还说，公众可以到公平交易厅查阅讨论报告，利用未来3个月的时间对讨论报告提出建议，并希望立法修改可以在明年初在议会通过生效。

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