New Laws Mean Renters Will Legally Be Allowed To Nail Pictures To The Wall And Have Functioning Heating

Victorian tenants will get a whole lot more rights under a state government overhaul.

Premier Daniel Andrews  announced 130 reforms will be introduced into parliament this week, 10 months after first flagging them ahead of the Northcote by-election.

"These reforms are about making a rental property your home, whether it be pets, picture hooks, other small modifications, getting your bond back more quickly," he told reporters on Sunday.

Every rental home will have to meet basic standards including functioning stoves, heating, deadlocks, safe gas and electricity, and working smoke alarms.

Rental bidding will be banned, rent increases will be limited to once a year, and tenants will be given the right to make minor modifications without landlord consent, such as nailing a hook on the wall or installing anchors to stop furniture falling on children.

People will also be able to keep pets with landlords only able to refuse the right of a tenant to have a pet by order of the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

The changes will also allow for quicker returns of bonds, which will be capped at four weeks' rent.

Recommendations from the royal commission into family violence will also be included.

"A woman trying to flee abuse can break a lease under these changes without incurring penalties, without there being that extra burden or that extra reason to perhaps feel that you had to say in an abusive, potentially tragic, relationship," Mr Andrews said.

Landlords would not be left out of pocket in such situations, he said, with compensation plans available.

Mr Andrews and Consumer Affairs Minister Marlene Kairouz said the reforms took time to be finalised because of consultation.

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