New Rental Laws Effective 1 October 2022

Housing Legislation Amendment Act 2021

The Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008 is amended by the Housing Legislation Amendment Act 2021 (HLA Act), advancing Stage 1 of Queensland’s rental law reform.

The amendments aim to prompt the right balance between rental and property owner interests, by improving safety, security, and certainty for all parties.

Amendments aim to provide:

• Certainty about their tenancy arrangements by encouraging greater transparency and accountability about intentions and decision making
• Confidence their rental property is safe, secure, and functional by strengthening repairs and maintenance obligations and prescribing Minimum Housing Standards
• Certainty about how renters experiencing domestic and family violence can manage their tenancy arrangements to improve their safety without bearing the costs of the violence used against them
• Frameworks to support negotiations about renting with pets and encourage more pet-friendly rental accommodation in Queensland.

The Next Steps

The implementation of the new measures will take place in stages.

This will give renters, property owners, and property managers time to understand the new rights and obligations and prepare for them to come into effect.

A longer transition period for the prescribed Minimum Housing Standards will assist rental property owners in planning and budgeting for any work needed to comply with the new legislation.

What is Changing?

Effective 1 October 2022 amendments under the ending tenancies fairly reforms include:

• Removal of ‘without grounds’ as a reason to end a tenancy
• New grounds for property owners to end tenancies, including the end of a fixed-term agreement, need to undertake significant repair or renovation, change of use or sale, or preparation for the sale of the rental property requires vacant possession
• New grounds for renters to end tenancies, including the property is not in good repair or does not comply with the Minimum Housing Standards.

Renters can continue to terminate an agreement ‘without grounds,’ but both renters and property owners must provide adequate notice for the ground (reason) they are using to terminate the agreement.

Property owners can seek a tenancy termination order from the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT) if a tenant violates the lease in a significant or serious way.

Renters can apply to QCAT for an order setting aside a notice to leave if they believe it was issued in retaliation for exercising their rights.

Renting with Pets

Effective 1 October 2022 Changes making it easier for renters to have a pet include:

• A renter can seek the property owner’s permission to keep a pet, and property owners can only refuse a request on identified reasonable grounds, such as keeping the pet would breach laws or by-laws
• The property owner must respond to a request for a pet in writing within 14 days, or consent is implied
• The property owner’s consent may be subject to reasonable conditions such as the pet has to be kept outside.
• A rent increase or a pet bond are not reasonable conditions.

Minimum Housing Standards

Repair and maintenance obligations will be strengthened commencing 1 October 2022 to support the staggered implementation of Minimum Housing Standards beginning 1 September 2023.

Tenants (residential tenancies) will have seven days to complete and return the entry condition report, and tenants and property managers will be able to authorise emergency repairs up to four weeks rent.

Minimum Housing Standards will apply to new leases entered into from 1 September 2023 and to all tenancies beginning on 1 September 2024.

Renters can be confident that their rental property is safe, secure, and functional due to Minimum Housing Standards that require:

• The premises to be weatherproof and structurally sound
• Fixtures and fittings to be in good repair and not likely to cause injury to a person
• Locks on windows and doors
• The premises to be free of vermin,
• Damp and mould privacy coverings
• Adequate plumbing and drainage
• Functioning kitchen and laundry facilities (where supplied).

For more information please visit https://www.legislation.qld.gov.au/view/html/asmade/act-2021-019