Almost three thirds of Victorian renters unable to get through to help line

The single mother of two thought she was moving into her dream home in Melbourne’s outer suburbs, but after a day of exposed electrical wiring and missing plumbing, her children were already calling it her “nightmare house”.

After seven years in a two-bedroom rental, Jessica, who wishes to be identified by a pseudonym, has decided to move to a larger, three-bedroom home in Reservoir, 20km from the Melbourne CBD, in early 2025.

“We were really looking for a family home,” he said.

“As we moved in on Saturday, I started to see that some details were not right. “There was no smoke alarm installed. There were no locks on the windows. “They said they would put air conditioning, but they didn’t.”

Jessica later brought in an electrician at her own expense to evaluate the home after discovering exposed electrical wiring, inoperative power points, and outlets that “moved away from the wall” when used.

Jessica said the property manager had not previously completed an electrical safety check, and a number for emergencies or urgent repairs was unavailable when she had concerns the first afternoon she moved in.

She spoke to the property manager and receptionist over the following days and said they were struggling to find a tradesman to come to the site and do the work as it was Australia Day.

He eventually made the difficult decision to issue two infringement notices before contacting Tenants Victoria and taking the agency to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, where they settled for a fee of $1700-$2000.

Almost three quarters of tenants in Victoria don’t get help

Jessica has since moved into a new rental property, albeit not without problems, which provides her football and cricket-loving son with a backyard to play in.

He said he knew there were other people in Victoria in a similar situation.

Nearly 2682 people sought help through Tenants Victoria’s phone lines in October, according to an analysis of call data.

But only 776 callers received help, leaving more than 1,800 Victorians without support.

The peak body is now calling on the state government to invest $21.3 million in next year’s budget to address what chief executive Jennifer Beveridge has described as a crisis in tenant support.

“Every unanswered call represents a Victorian tenant facing eviction, struggling with unpaid rent or dealing with unsafe living conditions,” Ms Beveridge said.

“We are allowing preventable housing crises to turn into homelessness when three-quarters of people who seek help cannot get through.”

Data reveals tenant Victoria receives an average of 160 calls a day for help.

This comes at a time when eviction notices for rent arrears have increased fivefold in the past two years.

“The Victorian government has already recognized that tenants who would benefit from early intervention will not receive assistance until they are in crisis or completely excluded from assistance,” Ms Beveridge said.

“A modest investment at the right time can prevent a complete collapse of one’s housing situation.”

The house from hell cost Jessica $5,000

Jessica estimates she spent close to $5,000 in total during the month-long ordeal paying rent for both her new property and her old property, and moving her children from her old rental to their new school closer to Reservoir.

“I felt really powerless, like I wanted a home for myself and my kids,” she said.

Jessica said this gave her children “a quick introduction to renting and how shitty people can be.”

“They call it the house of hell, which makes sense,” he said.

“They said, ‘Oh, let’s move. We want to move to a new house.’

“I had to say we wouldn’t move in unless it was truly safe.

“So I was having to do something about how do you explain this to kids? So it was pretty traumatic for everyone.”