Claims rental laws will tighten market

The claims have been rubbished by Attorney General Gordon Ramsay as scaremongering tactics.

He says the reforms will even out the balance of power currently weighted in landords' favour and allow renters to make their house feel more like a home.

The new laws will mean landlords will have to get the permission of ACAT to deny their tenant the right to have a pet or make minor modifications like putting up picture hooks or painting walls.

Increases in rent at the rollover of a lease will also be capped at CPI, unless ACAT allows otherwise.

Opposition housing spokesman Mark Parton said now was not the time to make changes to rental laws.

"We've got the highest rents in the country. Landlords are not actually making money," he said.

"If you diminish their rental market some of those renters ... will actually find themselves homeless.

"It's wonderful that there's Trevor and we've won the right for Trevor to have his dog in his house.

"If Trevor then just becomes a homeless man with a dog, who wins?

"If you continue to make changes that discriminate against landlords, you have to understand that the market plays a major role in providing affordable accommodation, and if you remove the incentive for the market to do that well they just won't do it."

He said the Liberals would overturn a number of the measures if they win government next year.

Mr Ramsay said the Liberals' "scaremongering campaign" was baseless, unfounded and ill-informed.

"The government's sensible changes are designed to increase the quality of life for renters and also respect the rights of landlords," he said,

"The ACT Labor Government has acted to level the playing field for those engaged in the rental market and help renters make their house a home."

Meanwhile, the Greens say the laws do not go far enough.

When the bill was debated earlier in the year they introduced amendments which would have banned no cause evictions and put in place minimum standards.

The proposals were voted down.

"We are very pleased the government has brought forward the implementation ... but there's still a lot of unfinished business," Greens housing spokeswoman Caroline Le Couteur said.

"It doesn't go far enough yet."

She said she didn't believe the changes would have a negative effect on the market.

"Most of them are things that decent landlords do anyway. Most landlords actually want their tenants to be happy in their property," Ms Le Couteur said.

"There are no onerous financial charges put on the landlord as a result of this legislation. These changes are not going to cost landlords money."