Hundreds of thousands of Victorians are living in rental homes which are dangerously hot in summer and freezing in winter, or waste too much energy to keep at a safe temperature.

With home ownership increasingly out of reach for Victorians, more and more people are renting. The appalling state of our rental properties has become a mainstream issue the government can’t ignore.

Rental homes make up around a quarter of our housing. If they are missing out on efficiency upgrades, then Victoria is also missing out on a big opportunity to lower bills and cut climate pollution.

The good news is that new rental laws passed the Victorian Parliament in September 2018. As a result of campaigning by the One Million Homes Alliance (of which Environment Victoria is a member) these laws included new powers for the government to set minimum standards for energy and water efficiency, that rental homes would be required to meet before they could be leased.

We’re looking forward to working with government to get strong standards in place as soon as possible, so that all renters can start to enjoy the benefits of living in efficient homes.

Get the detail on Victoria’s new rental laws

Read more in our report: ‘Bringing rental homes up to scratch’

Take 2 minutes to read our 4-page briefing paper