More than a third of New South Wales residents live in a property rented from an owner who uses a Real Estate agent to collect the rent and manage the property. We are about to see a law change to improve renters rights and establish minimum standards that rented properties must achieve.
These changes to the Residential Tenancy Act would require the property to have basic standards such as access to electricity and gas, be structurally sound and have natural or artificial lighting and ventilation. Tenants will gain the right to make those changes necessary to create the atmosphere of a private " home ", such as the right to install picture hooks and hang decorations and photos on walls. The ban on keeping or owning pets of any kind will be abolished.
A major change will be limiting rent increases to once in any twelve month period and set standard fees for breaking a fixed term lease. No such penalties will apply to domestic violence victims. This new law seeks to achieve a " natural balance " between the needs of tenants and landlords.
The glaring omission is the retention of the landlord's right to serve a " no grounds " eviction order on a renting family. In the past, renters complained that this was usually the outcome if they asked for repairs or improvements to the property or complained about a rent increase. It was often used if rising tenancy demand suggested that such a property could be relet at a higher rental because of increased demand.
One of the aims of this reform is to save renters from the clutches of what are called " Slum Lords ". People who extract the maximum rental from properties that lack any sort of decent standard of living. There is the expectation that a rental property will contain both a kitchen and a bathroom, and in some instances - one or both are missing. Often a building has been illegally subdivided to provide a number of letting opportunities that fail to meet minimum standards but are the only way the dispossessed can create a home.
Another restriction is the unreasonable requirements for a written approval before installing even minor change within the structure. Where a property is let " furnished " this can even require permission to slightly move chairs or a table to achieve comfort and a family atmosphere. This law change seeks to improve renters rights to a positive tenancy.
People who rent need the stability of certainty that when they sign a lease it will remain their address for the nominated period of time. Moving furniture and establishing a new home comes at a cost and that often involves changing the schooling for kids and sometimes even a change of job for one of the parents. That certainty is still lacking while ever that " no grounds " eviction order remains an option.
It is a fact of life that some tenants are troublesome, cause damage to properties and inflame relations with neighbours, but some landlords are also rapacious and unbending. It is the job of the Residential Tenancy Act to set the rules that apply to both parties - and to act as the arbiter whenever a dispute arises.
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