Productivity Commission says banning 'no-grounds' evictions could help vulnerable tenants

Greens housing spokeswoman Caroline Le Couteur said Labor and Liberal had blocked her attempt to ban no-cause evictions earlier this year.

"Nobody deserves to be booted out of their house without knowing why, or for simply raising maintenance issues.

"We know that this can cause renters to remain in unsafe or unfair housing, rather than risk being evicted," she said.

"Getting rid of no-cause evictions is one thing that the government could do right now to improve the circumstances of Canberra's renters."

Labor will introduce changes to the Residential Tenancies Act on Thursday but would not say on Wednesday what those changes involve.

So-called "no-grounds" evictions, where tenants can be thrown out at the end of their lease without a reason, are banned in Tasmania and will be banned next year in Victoria. But other states, including the ACT, allow the practice.

On Wednesday, the Productivity Commission reported a steady rise in the number of people renting since the mid 1980s, with one-quarter of households now renting.

Children are increasingly being brought up in rented homes, with families making up the biggest increase in renters over the past 20 years.

Also in 1996, the proportion of renters was highest among people aged 20-24, dropping after that. Now, 25 to 34 year olds make up the biggest proportion of renters in the market.

The Productivity Commission report is focused on the impact on people on low incomes, saying the stakes are high when people struggled to find affordable rents or were evicted and could not find anywhere to live.

With the failure of state governments to boost the supply of public housing, the poorest people were increasingly trying to rent in the private market.

For low-income households, the ACT is especially unaffordable. The commission reported that rent takes more than 40 per cent of income for low income people in Canberra - the highest proportion in the country other than NSW.

In Canberra, tenants can be thrown out (with notice) when their lease expires, or at any time if they have a month-to month lease, without the landlord having to give a reason.

This mirrors laws in other states, except Victoria and Tasmania where landlords can only evict if they give a specific reason, such as renovating or selling.

NSW decided against removing no-grounds evictions to give landlords certainty about regaining possession of their property and to ensure they didn't have to disclose their personal affairs to tenants.

Consumer group Choice reported in 2014 that Australia was one of the few OECD countries to allow "no-grounds" evictions.

Canberra has the longest notice times for no-fault evictions - with landlords having to give tenants six months' notice. Other states range from as little as two weeks (in the Northern Territory) to three months.

The commission said banning no-grounds eviction could improve the welfare of vulnerable private renters, who might be reluctant to request repairs or maintenance for fear of retaliation.

"Such consequences can include increases in rent, landlords becoming hostile or angry, being blacklisted on a tenancy database (for being "a nuisance"), and retaliatory "no-grounds" evictions," it said.

Without no-grounds evictions, renters could become more confident in asserting their rights, which could improve the quality of rental properties.

On the other side of the coin, landlords might use "with cause" evictions more often to get rid of tenants.

The ACT government did not answer the eviction question directly, but said changes to limit rent increases would come into effect this year.

The government also acknowledged that Canberra's higher incomes could mask disadvantage in the rental market and said it was providing new social housing to help.