26 August 2026
Weekly landlord
news.
It was a relatively quiet week for Victoria and SA-specific regulatory news. Three stories stood out as genuinely relevant to landlords rather than routine market commentary.
Story 1 of 3
Unions push for a national two-year minimum lease and a fivefold jump in public housing
Why this matters for landlords
- Nothing has changed in the law yet: this is a proposal, not a rule change, so no compliance action is needed right now.
- If adopted, a mandated two-year minimum lease would be a bigger structural change than anything currently in force in Victoria or SA, worth factoring into how you think about lease terms on your next renewal.
- Housing Minister Clare O’Neil called the proposals “really valuable” but was explicit they aren’t yet government policy, so treat this as a signal of direction, not an incoming deadline.
The ACTU has called on the federal government to make two years the minimum standard rental lease term nationally (tenants could still choose shorter), alongside lifting public housing from roughly one in fifty new homes built to one in ten. They’re also pushing for tighter rules around “rent gouging” and a review of Commonwealth Rent Assistance.
Read the full article · ABC News, 18 August 2026 →
Story 2 of 3
New report: renting now eats more than half of median take-home pay in every capital city
Why this matters for landlords
- The affordability ceiling is closer than it was eighteen months ago: a tenant on $70,000 a year is now handing over 56% of take-home pay for the average rent, which shapes how much further rent increases can realistically go before vacancy risk rises.
- Adelaide is the most affordable capital measured, but even there rent still consumes more than half of a median income, so SA landlords aren’t insulated from this trend either.
- This kind of data tends to resurface in the next round of tenancy-reform debate in both states, so it’s worth watching as context for future policy, not just a one-off headline.
Advocacy group Everybody’s Home released its 2026 “Priced Out” report this week, finding that a renter on $70,000 a year is now spending 56% of take-home pay on the average national rent of $614 a week, with weekly rents up $48 (nearly $2,500 a year) since March 2025.
| Figure | Value |
|---|
| Average national weekly rent | $614 |
| Share of income on $70,000 salary | 56% |
| Rent increase since March 2025 | +$48/wk (~$2,500/yr) |
| Most affordable capital measured | Adelaide (still >50%) |
Read the full article · ABC News, 24 August 2026 →
Story 3 of 3
Investor lending in Victoria dropped 14.2% in the June quarter, ABS figures show
Why this matters for landlords
- Fewer new investors buying in Victoria can mean less competition for good tenants in the near term, which may work in an existing landlord’s favour.
- The flip side: fewer new investment properties entering the market can point to tighter rental supply down the track, which tends to support rents over the medium term.
- Worth tracking over the next couple of quarters to see whether this is a one-off dip or the start of a trend, since a single quarter’s ABS data doesn’t confirm either direction yet.
New ABS lending data released this month shows investor home loan commitments fell 8.6% nationally in the June quarter, the steepest quarterly drop since September 2022, with Victoria alone down 14.2%. The ABS attributed the slide to a combination of RBA cash rate settings and shifting property tax policy.
| Figure | Value |
|---|
| National investor lending, June quarter | down 8.6% |
| Victoria investor lending, June quarter | down 14.2% |
| Last time the drop was this steep | September 2022 |
Read the full article · The Adviser, 14 August 2026 →
Prepared by Ben Sherman for AgentSelector.co.