New Legislation for Qld Properties

It has been a tough year for Queensland tenants, with rents on the rise and decent available properties becoming rare by the month.

Add to that the soaring costs of living and it would be fair to say renters could use a break.

The good news is that they will have the right to a better living standard after the state brought in some legislation changes in October.

The amendments are designed to give renters more options and rights when it comes to their rental properties and, as explained by the Residential Tenancies Authority, aims to ensure all Qld rental properties are “safe, secure and functional”.

The changes, which will offer some relief for renters who have been dealing with a landlord’s market for some time now, will focus on three main areas: minimum housing standards, living with pets and the ending of leases.

Repairs and maintenance

Legislation taking effect from October 1, 2022 sees landlords held to higher account over repairs and maintenance than previously, though it will apply to leases entered into from 1 Sep 2023, not those already entered into.

These changes will ensure that landlords must provide premises that are structurally sound, in good repair and free from pests, damp and mould.

Tenants will also be given a full seven days to return the entry condition report after they move in. This will replace the previous period of three days, and should give tenants more time to discover and note all potential issues.

Tenants will also be able to authorise emergency repairs costing up to four weeks worth of rent rather than the existing two weeks.

Puppy love

It has been a particularly tough year for people with pets as they have had less rights than people without animals and certainly find it even harder than others to find new accommodation without having to leave their furry friends behind.

The new changes will mean landlords need reasonable and legitimate grounds to refuse a tenant’s request to keep a pet. Reasonable grounds for refusal might be that pets breach a building’s by-laws. And if owners do not respond to requests within 14 days, the default position will be that consent is implied, rather than the other way around.

Ending tenancies 

Going forward, landlords seeking to end tenancies will have more scrutiny applied to their reasons for doing so. In short, they will no longer be able to end tenancies without grounds. Tenants will still be able to and will have their acceptable grounds expanded to include tenancies for properties that don’t meet the new Minimum Housing Standards. 

Landlords will get some new reasons to end tenancies, however, such as needing to prepare the property for sale, to undertake a significant repair or renovation, or a few other reasons.

Serious breaches will still go through a process with QCAT before termination.

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