Yahoo News ‘My apartment is literally baking’: calls for minimum standards to keep Australia’s rental homes cool
People are ‘sweltering in poorly insulated rentals, getting sick and sometimes even dying’, social services advocate says
As temperatures soared last week, Cass Willcocks’s rental apartment in inner Melbourne quickly became “unliveable”.
“It’s gotten to the point where the tiles in my kitchen are hot, I try to put moisturiser on and it’s hot. Everything in my apartment is literally baking and I feel like I’m suffocating,” she said.
“I pay $395 a week for an apartment that’s basically unliveable. I’ve had to go work from my friend’s kitchen table in the air conditioning because I can’t concentrate. I’m barely sleeping.”
Willcocks’s blackout curtains and a borrowed portable air conditioner were barely making a dent – a thermometer on her fridge showed the temperature inside her Thornbury apartment reached 36C on the evening of 25 January. There were three more days of above-average temperatures and warm nights ahead.
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“I sent my property manager an email with photos of the temperature gauge and tried to explain that I am really struggling. I told her I was desperate for a solution,” Willcocks said.
She said her property manager replied: “I understand it has been very hot in Melbourne the past few days but it looks as though there’ll be a drop in temperature on the way”.
Willcocks was left feeling “absolutely helpless” after the exchange.
In Victoria, a suite of changes to rental laws were introduced in March 2021, including a requirement for landlords to provide a fixed heater in “good working order” in the living area of any property. From March 2023, the heater must also meet energy efficiency standards.
Tasmania is subject to similar requirements but is yet to introduce energy efficiency standards.
But no state in Australia mandates that a landlord must provide a sufficiently cool living environment.
This is despite extreme heat killing more Australians than any other form of natural disaster.
A Victorian Council of Social Services (VCOSS) report, released last year, details how the January 2009 heatwave contributed to 374 excess deaths in the state and the January 2014 heatwave led to 167.
VCOSS chief executive, Emma King, said “it’s not good enough that Victorians are sweltering in poorly insulated rentals, getting sick and sometimes even dying.
“The government has indicated it’s looking to expand the current minimum standards in this manner. VCOSS looks forward to this work progressing, and the standards being updated in the future.”
Victorian Greens leader, Samantha Ratnam, has written to consumer affairs minister Melissa Horne, asking her to amend the minimum standards for rental properties to make cooling mandatory.
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“With Victorian summers likely to get hotter and longer as we feel the effects of climate change, effective cooling will be necessary to keep rental homes safe and liveable in the summer months.
“Introducing insulation standards for rental properties will also make it easier and cheaper for renters to keep their homes cool in the summer and warm in the winter.”
Ratnam said adequate cooling could be in the form of air conditioning, ceiling fans or good insulation.
Executive director of tenant advocacy group Better Renting, Joel Dignam, said not every rental property needed air conditioning but everyone did need a healthy home.
“The standard wouldn’t necessarily explicitly require air conditioning but it should cover measures that reduce incoming heat, like curtains, as well as measures to deal with heat in your home, like ceiling fans,” he said.
“We don’t want a situation where everyone needs to run an AC to try to cool down a sweltering dogbox, but we do need to keep people safe in their homes as we continue to face dangerous heatwaves.”
Willcocks said landlords should have a responsibility to keep their properties at a safe and comfortable temperature.
“Air conditioning at the moment is a luxury item and that is unacceptable in an Australian summer. It has to be an essential part of the service provided to us in our homes, regardless of how much rent you’re paying to the landlord,” she said.
