The Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill has returned from Select Committee with proposed changes to Residential Tenancies Act. This is good news for property investors and should result in a better legal framework for both landlords and tenants. Once passed, the provisions of the bill will come into effect at different times.
The bill:
- Reinstates 90-day no-cause terminations for periodic tenancies
- Reinstates a 42-day notice period, allowing a landlord to end a periodic tenancy for specified reasons
- Decreases the minimum notice period a tenant must give to end a periodic tenancy, from 28 days to 21 days
- Enables landlords or tenants to give notice to end a fixed-term tenancy between 90 and 21 days before the end of the fixed term, without providing a reason
- Decreases the minimum notice period a tenant must give to renew or extend a fixed-term tenancy, from 28 days to 21 days.
- The reinstatement of fixed term tenancies will take a lot of stress out of renting for students and landlords, giving certainty and a greater choice of rental properties.
Pets
The bill would also enable a tenant to keep a pet, if allowed in their tenancy agreement or with the landlord’s written consent.
- A tenant keeping a pet without consent is proposed to be an unlawful act. With a fine limited to $750.
- There is more clarity around grounds for refusing consent to keep a pet.
Other changes to the Residential Tenancies Act include:
- Simplifying the smoking provisions, by allowing the prohibition of smoking inside while allowing for a case-by-case assessment elsewhere on a property; and
- Strengthening protections for tenants by extending existing rules for retaliatory terminations.
What happens next?
The Bill returns to parliament for debate. Once passed, the provisions of the bill will come into effect in stages, for example:
- Bond lodgement and payment changes come into force on the day after Royal assent.
- Tenancy termination changes would come into force 6 weeks after Royal assent.
- Remaining amendments (except pet amendments) come into force 3 months after Royal assent.
- Commencement of the pet provisions will only come after the process for administering pet bonds has been developed. This could take some time.