New Tenancy Laws For Queensland Landlords And Tenants
Queensland’s residential tenancy laws have changed.
What is changing?
Queensland’s residential tenancy laws changed on 6 June when several provisions of the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008 came into effect. We’ve summarised what landlords and tenants need to know.
Setting and increasing rent
The changes introduce new restrictions on what landlords can do when it comes to setting and increasing the rent on a property.
- Ban on rent bidding. Agents and landlords can no longer engage in rent bidding, i.e. accepting rent offers higher than the advertised price.
- Limits on paying rent in advance. A property manager or owner now generally can’t ask a tenant to pay more than two weeks’ rent in advance, regardless if they offer to pay more. However, a tenant can negotiate how much rent in advance can be paid throughout the course of their tenancy.
- Limits on rent increases. Landlords are now limited to increasing the rent on a property once every 12 months, and the rental agreement must show the date of the last rental increase.
It’s worth noting that this rule applies to the property and not the tenancy, so a landlord can’t necessarily put the rent up when a new tenant comes in. The property manager or landlord can apply to QCAT for permission to increase the rent if they’re facing undue hardship.
- Fixed price on rooms for rent. Rooming accommodation must be advertised at a fixed price.
Reforms to rental bonds
The process for refunding bonds involving commercial bond loan suppliers has changed.
Where a landlord lives on premises and has no more than three rooms for rent, they must now lodge a bond for each individual room. This also applies to student accommodation.
Where a landlord disputes a bond being released but then withdraws that claim or has it dismissed, the Residential Tenancy Authority can release the bond.
New grounds to enter rooming accommodation
There are new grounds for entry to rooming accommodation to install, maintain or repair smoke alarms. However, landlords or property managers must provide 24 hours’ notice using a Form R9 Entry notice – Rooming accommodation.
Reform on ending tenancies
There is now greater clarity around when tenancies end in certain situations, such as short tenancies or in body corporates or community schemes where the scheme is terminated for economic reasons.
Domestic and family violence
The government has amended the terminology and confidentiality requirements, so that sensitive information doesn’t get disclosed.
Goods left behind
When a tenant leaves goods behind, the property manager or landlord must contact them. There is also a revised process for advertising stored goods.
Regulations
At a bigger picture level, the regulations have also changed in several ways:
- Three new “Heads of Power” will be established to help develop and regulate:
- a new portable bond scheme
- a rental sector code of conduct and
- applications to make modifications for safety, security or accessibility.
- Penalties now apply for providing false and misleading information to the Residential Tenancy Authority.
- The Residential Tenancy Authority can also take new actions to force landlords, tenants and others to comply with the Act.
Further changes coming soon
The government is planning to soon announce a further round of updates to the state’s rental laws, which will include new details on:
- How tenants should submit rental applications
- How tenants can pay rent
- Costs around utility bills and reletting
- Notice periods for entry
- Privacy of personal information
- Evidence around bond claims, and
- The maximum bond amount.
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