"I've been pretty distraught": Rachael Laidler. Credit:Louise Kennerley "I've been pretty distraught," Ms Laidler says. "I had such a bond with her and she was something I was relying on." About this time, she was also struck by a bigger realisation: that she will probably never be able to afford to buy property, but under current laws renting would mean "working 40 hours a week to live in someone else's house and not be comfortable, not be able to have companionship". Housing has played more than a cameo in this long-run federal election campaign, with duelling claims about the role of negative gearing. Underpinning the argument is what curtailing the tax deductibility of investment properties might do to property prices for investors and owner-occupiers. The plight of renters such as Ms Laidler rarely gets a look in. But renting is on the rise, and not just for the young. The proportion of the population in private rental properties increased steadily from 18.4 to 25.7 per cent over the two decades to 2013-14. Factor in public housing, and nearly one in three Australians are renting. The median age of those shelling out to live in someone else's place is 37, up from 32 three decades ago.

Illustration: Matt Golding It is fuelling calls for renters' rights to be overhauled to reflect that for a growing number of people it is not a transitory stage, but permanent. Wendy Stone, associate professor in housing studies at Swinburne University, says it is time for a reappraisal. "We have a real imbalance between the rights of landlords and tenants in Australia compared to some other countries, particularly in Europe," she says. "In those parts of the world renting is not plan B, it is a very attractive place to be. That's obviously not the case here."

Germany is sometimes held up as an ideal for renters, at the other end of the spectrum to Australia. Multi-year leases are common, rent increases are capped and new owners must honour existing agreements. Tenants are allowed to make alternations to the property, such as painting or hanging pictures, and to own pets. In Australia, leases are mostly for a year, sometimes less, and pets are allowed only at the landlord's discretion. RSPCA Victoria says it accepted 700 animals last financial year – nearly two a day – from people who said they had to give them up because their landlords would not allow them. One of those people was Naoimie Beveridge, who gave up Boo, an 11-year-old Maltese shih tzu, and Ollie, a purebred Burmese cat, when she moved into a larger place in Melbourne's outer-east with enough room for her three children. She had been through this before, having lost a Rhodesian ridgeback called Thai a decade earlier due to a similar rental agreement. Boo and Ollie found new homes, but she says Thai was put down. The Victorian government is receiving submissions outlining stories such as Ms Beveridge's as it fulfils a 2014 election promise to review the state's Residential Tenancy Act. It will consider changes after receiving recommendations from Consumer Affairs Victoria. NSW is also looking at its residential tenancy laws, with a report due to be tabled in Parliament this month. The reviews have heard renting horror stories that clearly break the law – moving into a house and finding a wall is missing exposing the driveway, landlords letting themselves in at 2am – but also everyday of people being forced to move with little notice or explanation. One Sydney family with three children told Fairfax Media they had moved 14 times in 11 years as houses they rented were repeatedly sold while they were in them. Others spoke of facing increases of up to 20 per cent without notice.

NSW Tenants Union senior policy officer Ned Cutcher says the most important change would be to strike out a landlord's right to evict tenants without a reason. He says it would help end the problem of short-term tenancy, and give tenants greater confidence to raise concerns. Grattan Institute chief John Daley says revamping the system would require changes to tax laws – both land tax laws that in some states increase as you buy more properties, and negative gearing. He says the result is a system dominated by landlords who own only one or two properties and expect a short-term pay-off. In other countries, companies often own many houses as part of a longer-term portfolio. "The way we have set things up makes it very difficult to make a rental property a home. Many landlords want essentially to sell their property and re-gear into a new property quite regularly," Mr Daley says. Wendy Stone says under the existing system landlords think of property "not as a home, but part of a financial strategy". She calls for a greater range of lease types – including multi-year options aimed at families, older people and migrants who want greater stability – and consideration of schemes trialled in the ACT that allow tenants to buy the property they rent, or buy a house while renting the land it sits on. She says landlords might be surprised to find a more even playing field for renters would work in everyone's favour. "If people who know they have security and look after the house to feel at home, there can be benefits to all."