Never thought to ask as not worth the hassle.
In my honest opinion every landlord is cheap they dont fix things or keep their homes in good condition or repair. Things fall down they consider it cosmetic so wont fix it. So its a lose lose situation unless you want to try vcat which is your own expense...

Many people work their whole lives and hard but cant afford a deposit for a house, its not about smart choices its about having enough hours and disposal income to save. If that's not there and your family commitments prevent you from being able to have 2 or 3 jobs its hard. Not everyone is married or has support behind them to watch their kids to work 3 jobs. Or has a partner or high paying job!

Please dont be condescending in your "smart decisions" I dont eat out, buy new clothes, go out anywhere, or buy anything other than bare essentials and even then its kmart if possible. I dont have money for health appts for myself or any meds i need. You never know someone elses circumstances so refrain from saying people who own houses made smart choices. Because its not smart choices you just dont have the same barriers we do and havent had to sacrifice as much as we have!!!!

Consider ur self lucky.

As a teen I made the mistake of renting a bedsitter through the dodgiest real estate I've ever come across. The rent was more than it was worth, the place was an unsafe shithole (the front door had been kicked in so many times it didn't lock properly - if you pushed on a certain spot of the door it would swing open), and I didn't get my bond back. Nor did I receive a receipt of the bond being lodged with the people it should have been. All I got was the eftpos receipt of the bond + 2 weeks rent upfront stapled to the lease agreement the day I picked the keys up. Now, when I was preparing to move out the owner himself told me not to worry about getting the (threadbare) carpet cleaned as he was going to be pulling it up and renovating immediately after I left anyway. He had paint, tools, and kitchen cabinets stored away in the back laundryroom ready to go. But the real estate agent wasn't having that. She rang me up (during my HSC exams - that they knew I was taking) and was berating me over voicemail. Apparently I was the reason they never liked to rent to teenagers and she knew I was scum the minute I stepped through the office door. Apparently I was the worst kind of tenant (despite most of the other units having junkies and drug dealers in them) because I was too arrogant to clean the place. It was literally just the carpet hadn't been steam cleaned. Everything else was perfect.
Lol. I spoke to the owner about it next time I ran into him at the shops and he said he'd had similar complaints from other tenants and was in the process of switching real estates to manage his property. 6 months later that agency went out of business and the owner took off overseas.

Real estates are greedy pigs in my experience. They care more about lining their pockets than their clients and customers. Fuck those guys.

Always look at the asking price as that- an asking price. In the times of a struggling market, the agencies know that and suggest that IF you ask. I have seen 20people come see my neighbours house, and the tenant who moved in knocked the price from 510 to 430. The agents are often putting up the price.. -Perth. Now I can see they are already dropping- but not enough in my opinion, people will be slow to drop- but asking is necessary. They will come back to you to ‘negotiate’

Why complain? If you don’t like the situation, you have the option to move. The owner isn’t obligated to decrease your rent and has been pretty good to do so. I’ve heard plenty of people ask for rent cuts to no avail.

All I can say is the new agent managing our property are terrible, especially throught the COVID-19 period. I lost my job, contacted them and explained the situation and when I expected to see money coming in. Within hours I had a breach notice and an eviction notice within a week. Fortunately, we know the owner and I rang him to say I was 'pissed off' and he called them in the morning. How dare they tell you to get out without even contacting the owner. Once I stated that I was seeking legal advice they realised I was fully understanding of the new legislation and sent the appropriate paperwork. They aren't even operating under current law and then have the nerve to pretend they are giving you a reprieve out of the goodness of their hearts. Yes, they are only thinking of their profits. If you know the home owner deal direct.

I have never rented but even I know this is un-Australian. Good luck with it all x

No one will allow tenants to sit on a periodic lease where is the financial security

BUMP

PS the reduction was asked 8months ago