In some parts of Australia, landlords can end a tenancy without giving a reason. In other jurisdictions, like Victoria that's not the case and sometimes, Victorian tribunals even rule against landlords who have a good reason to end a tenancy.
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00:00The most landlord-friendly jurisdictions in Australia are WA and the Northern Territory,
00:07which both allow for no-grounds evictions.
00:10Moving along the spectrum, New South Wales is committed to removing no-grounds evictions
00:15and a draft bill is expected to be made public and come before Parliament later this month.
00:21Moving along further along the spectrum, you've got South Australia and the ACT, which for
00:25some time now have removed no-grounds evictions.
00:30And at the far end of the spectrum, the most tenant-friendly jurisdiction in the country
00:35is Victoria.
00:36And since 2021, it's removed no-grounds evictions.
00:40But even if a landlord does have a good reason to end a tenancy, for instance, they want
00:48to sell a property, they want to renovate a property, the landlord themselves wants
00:52to move into the property, or they want a close family member to move into the property.
00:57In Victoria, decision-makers will still apply a reasonable and proportionate test.
01:02In other words, they will look at the relative needs and positions of the landlord and the
01:08tenant.
01:10So there was a recent test case on this, wasn't there?
01:13How did that play out?
01:15It was a very interesting case, and there have been actually now a number, but it's
01:19perhaps the most interesting and illuminating of a bunch, or a number of different cases
01:24which have come before the tribunals recently in Victoria.
01:27And it involved a disability pensioner and her 17-year-old son.
01:33The 17-year-old son is studying Year 12, and they receive a notice to vacate.
01:40And at that point, the mum tries to get an alternative rental accommodation.
01:45She applies for something like 200 rental properties.
01:49She's very unsuccessful.
01:52This family is facing the prospect of homelessness.
01:56But on the other hand, the landlord has a legitimate, valid reason for wanting to end
02:03the tenancy.
02:05She wants her father to move into the property.
02:08He's a man who's a plasterer, who has impaired lung capacity.
02:11He's only able to work a few days a week.
02:13And because of the impaired lung capacity, he also wants to live alone because of risk
02:19of infection.
02:20So good reason, valid reason, for the landlord to end the tenancy.
02:26So what happens?
02:27It goes to the tribunal, and they apply the reasonable and proportionate test.
02:32And they rule that, well, the relative needs of both are assessed, and they decide to rule
02:37in favour of the existing tenant, and not allow the notice to vacate, to proceed.
02:44And so the tenant stays in the property.
02:47And have there been other cases where this test was used?
02:49Yeah, there've been a number of very interesting cases.
02:53There was another one where the landlord himself was unable to live with his family, and therefore
03:01was now couch surfing, living in a car, living in a hotel.
03:06And he was effectively homeless.
03:08He wants to move into his investment property.
03:11But the tribunal rules against him, because on the other end of the ledger, the tenant
03:16is a very vulnerable family, where you've got a grandma, her daughter who has a brain
03:21injury, and some of her children who are living on the autism spectrum.
03:28And it was clear that if these people were evicted from the property, they really would
03:32be running the risk of homelessness.
03:35But having said that, I'm told that the cases don't always go in favour of the tenant.
03:42There was a landlord who was very, very ill and needed to get their affairs, their financial
03:46affairs in order.
03:48And even though the tenant had vulnerabilities, the tribunal said, look, applying this reasonable
03:54and proportionate test, we're going to allow you to proceed with your notice to vacate.
04:01So it's a very interesting, unique test, and other places all around the country are
04:06looking at what is happening in Victoria with enormous interest.