I agree. The corollary to owners having less control over their assets once rented out is that they will need higher compensation in order to enter that agreement.
From a renter's point of view it is a trade-off.
I lived for a couple of years in Germany, which is always touted as the gold standard of enlightened housing policy by the activists, and the situation is not all rosy for the tenant.
Yes, tenants have great tenure, and there are controls on how much rent can be raised each year. A residential lease is essentially perpetual, and the longer you stay at a place, the longer the notice period is for the LL. Good for the tenant.
When you rent a place, it is a lot like commercial rentals here. There will potentially be no floor coverings, wallpaper, kitchen, light fittings, etc when you move in. There will be hot water, heating, and bare wires hanging out of the walls/ceilings. You will be required by your contract to renovate walls and floor every so many years. You feel a lot like being the owner, especially since you have almost owner-like tenure. Great for you if you intend to stay there the rest of your life.
Because of the rent increase controls, you will pay well above market when you move in, about market after 10 years and over time it will probably drop below market. To my mind this is bad for almost everybody. Lots of people are trapped in their current rental because they feel they can't move. many LLs take advantage (or seek compensation depending on your viewpoint) by not doing *any* repairs to the structure until they have a court order telling them to do so. Even then they sometimes don't do the repair and just eat the ordered rent reduction in the hope the tenant will move out. Many of the people I knew had long-running legal disputes with their LL. In cities where the economy is going well, there is always an acute housing shortage. I was in Munich, and rental ads went out at the same morning every week (pre-internet days). It was typical for the LL to have 40+ inquiries by 9am. If you went through an agent, the tenant typically had to pay an agent 2 months' rent as the fee for finding a suitable rental. In 1991, typical new tenant rent for a 100sqm apartment would be about A$4500/month in Munich. In Hamburg which was depressed at the time it was about A$2200. Hamburg and Munich are both smaller than Brisbane. As a result it was normal for professional people to be raising 2 kids in 75sqm apartments with windows on one side of the apartment only. (But they had tenure!). They could also afford to buy the apartment if they wanted to, but saw no reason to do so. Much better to rent forever and watch the rent shrink as a proportion of their disposable.
I would welcome a move towards long-term leases in Australia, but they would have to come up with something better than rent controls. I'd certainly be prepared to sign 5-year leases on some of my places, but I would want more rent and I would want sensible terms on rent increases. For example CPI would not cut it. The rental housing CPI component for that state would.
