Instead, the research shows renting for a decade or more has become the norm for a generation of families and middle-aged people. It is in stark contrast to 1981, when single people living by themselves made up almost half of Victoria's renters. Families at that time represented only a quarter of all rentals. Jump forward three decades to 2011, when the last reliable statistics are available, and 42 per cent of household tenants were either couples with children or single-parent families. (On a slightly different reading of the figures, this drops to 36.4 per cent.) And despite the huge taxpayer subsidies to landlords via negative gearing, Australian renters experience some of the lightest-touch regulations in the western world. Laws in other western countries offered more secure rental tenure, with longer lease terms, narrower reasons for eviction, and longer notice periods before a landlord could demand a tenant move, a Grattan Institute report found last year.

Tenants in other countries also have more rights to keep a pet or make minor alterations such as small holes in the wall without the landlord's permission, it found. In Australia, a typical lease lasts from six to 12 months compared to two to three years in France and Hong Kong. Germany and the Netherlands offer indefinite lease terms, the report said. Swinburne University housing expert Kath Hulse said it was unfortunate Australians still associated renting with young singles and couples about to buy a home. "It's just not true." The common view was to look down on renting, she said. "You don't find too many people at a party saying proudly 'I'm a tenant.' People say the opposite – "I'm just a tenant" – as though they were a second-class citizen." "It is a feature of the countries where the great dream of home ownership – America, Canada, Australia. People buy into that and they want it."

Professor Hulse said buying a home was now impossible for many, even the middle classes, "unless it is a long way from the city". Research by Swinburne has compared buying a house at the time of the 1981 Census to recent conditions, and found purchasing then was easily achievable for most Australian families. "A low to moderate income earner could have bought almost anywhere then, apart from a few posh suburbs like Brighton," she said. "But by the time you get to 2006 there are very few areas where you could buy except a very long way from the city." Tenants Union policy officer James Bennett said there needed to be longer-term thinking in relation to people who rent in Victoria, as it would lead to better public policy outcomes. "Secure and appropriate housing leads to better health, education and employment," he said. "Nobody should face the prospect of eviction without good reason and appropriate notice – our current laws fail this test."

The Tenants Union analysis comes on the same day the Victorian Greens bring a bill before Parliament that would set basic standards for housing before it is offered for rent. "Your car needs to be roadworthy at all times, but a landlord can rent any house in any condition," Greens leader Greg Barber said. "People are renting for longer, so it's clearly time to set basic rental housing standards." The government, asked if it would support the Greens' bill, said new standards across the entire rental market could result in a jump in costs for landlords, and would need to clearly outweigh any increased rental costs for tenants. Labor housing spokesman Dick Wynne said the Greens' proposal was "unclear and uncosted" and could backfire on tenants by having the unintended consequence of driving investors out of rental housing.