Victorian landlords and real estate agents have been blocked from advertising rental homes with price ranges or ‘contact agent’ in the latest phase of a rental taskforce crackdown.
It comes as Consumer Affairs Victoria has revealed the watchdog that aims to stamp out dodgy rental providers has now issued 90 fines worth a combined $750,000 since it was established in 2024.
Penalties have been issued for a range of offences, including for landlords and agents who have incited rental bidding — a practice in which would-be tenants make offers above an asking price to secure a tenancy.
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Soliciting such offers has been banned among providers since 2021, and from next month it will also become illegal to accept unsolicited rental bids.
As an interim step, Consumer Affairs minister Nick Staikos has today announced that major online portals including realestate.com.au have changed their systems so that rental listings can only be advertised with a single fixed price.
It is expected that change will free up the state’s rental taskforce to pursue other issues faced by tenants including investigating residences that fail to meet the state’s minimum standards.
Other reforms tabled for November 25 include increasing the notice period for rent increases and evictions from 60 days to 90.
The state will also abolish no cause evictions and ban third-parties from charging extra fees to facilitate rental payments or applications.
Mr Staikos said Victorian tenants faced a hard enough time finding a rental, without worrying about what it would really cost them.
“Price transparency is vital – renters have the right to know how much they can expect to pay, and these new measures as well as the complete ban on all forms of rental bidding will ensure this,” he said.
An REA Group spokesperson said the changes would streamline rental listings for both agents and tenants.
“This change ensures property managers and agents can be confident that, when they list a rental property on realestate.com.au, they are compliant with Victoria’s fixed price advertising laws, avoiding possible fines,” they said.
“REA Group is committed to improving the property journey for renters and property managers by solving one of the most common pain points, price accuracy on listings.”
Real Estate Institute of Victoria acting chief executive Jacob Caine said the change to online portals was a “win for common sense” and that it was positive to hear the rental taskforce was finding those who had been breaking the rules.
“Given the fact that there are 90 fines issued across more than 600,000 rental properties, the REIV would consider that evidence that in the overwhelming number of cases rental owners and agents and tenants have a harmonious relationship,” Mr Caine said.
“That also suggests that they are largely adhering to those rules and responsibilities.”
However, he noted that there was still a shortfall of rental properties — and while there had been a rise in investor activity, with building approvals still below where they needed to be, it was important that more be done to encourage people to become landlords.
“There’s simply not enough homes around for the renters looking for them,” Mr Caine said.
“The landscape for investors in Victoria needs to be more attractive.”
Tenants Victoria chief executive Jennifer Beveridge said tenants in their thousands had been calling out for the change.
“No more hidden prices, no more wasting time contacting agents just to find out basic information,” Ms Beveridge said.
“Combined with the upcoming ban on rental bidding, we’re seeing real momentum in fixing Victoria’s broken rental market.”
She added that the end of rental bidding would be a “quietly powerful win for Victorian renters”.
However, Ms Beveridge said while it was good to see the rental taskforce active, Tenants Victoria believed far more tenants will still facing problems.
“Tenants Victoria alone supports over 10,000 renters annually, and hundreds of thousands visit our website seeking help,” she said.
“Real estate standards remain deeply inconsistent and too many renters continue to suffer from non-compliance.”
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Originally published as Rental price ranges banned on major property sites across Vic
