Residential Tenancies Act 2010
The Residential Tenancies Act 2010 and its associated Regulation commenced on 31 January 2011.
There are more than 100 areas of reform in the new Act. The main changes include:
- more protection for domestic violence victims
- tenants will have least one fee-free way to pay their rent
- the time to evict a tenant who has stopped paying rent will be cut by up to 18 days
- red tape will be cut for landlords dealing with goods left behind
- tenants will be able to make reasonable requests to make minor changes to premises or to sub-lease a spare room
- landlords will be required to make premises ‘water efficient’ if they wish to charge tenants for water usage
- landlords will gain the right to show premises to prospective tenants or buyers at least twice a week
- landlords and their agents will be prohibited from knowingly concealing certain important information from tenants'
- tenants will no longer be forced to have carpets professionally steam-cleaned when vacating premises.
For more information, including a video presentation on the key provisions of the new Act, go to the Tenancy reforms page.