00:00Alex Butler and her partner Tian felt a wave of relief when they moved into their brand-new
00:07inner Melbourne rental last year.
00:10Rents in their affordable apartment block are capped for people on low incomes, but
00:15less than a year into their lease, the consortium that runs the building told them it was raising
00:20their rent by 17%, $55 a week.
00:25Since then it's been nothing but stress and anxiety.
00:28The building's operator has pegged rental increases to average rent prices not just in their neighbourhood
00:34but across inner Melbourne.
00:36That average takes in more expensive suburbs in the inner east, like Toorak and Albert Park.
00:42If this is a trend that happens every 12 months, then we won't be able to stay.
00:50The Victorian Government plans to use the model again as it knocks down and rebuilds Melbourne's
00:5544 public housing towers.
00:58This is a model that they're parading as the answer to the housing crisis, but it's actually
01:03going to make the housing crisis worse for everyone.
01:06The housing minister declined to comment, but the government agency Homes Victoria says it
01:11can't get involved in disputes between the residents and the operator unless it's breaking regulations.
01:18The operator says residents can dispute rent increases.
01:22It's scaled back Alex and Tian's rent increase to $28 a week after they complained to Consumer
01:28Affairs Victoria.
01:30And that will only be offered to the people who have been with Consumer Affairs and not
01:35to anyone else in the wider building.
01:38A home that's barely affordable.
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