How will the changes to NSW Residential Tenancies Act 2010 will affect you?

Date: 1 March 2010 | Source: Geri Forsythe @ Sydney Property Conveyancing
 
There are many changes for tenants, landlords and agents. The new laws apply to all NSW residential tenancies as of 31 January 2011.
Some of the main changes are as follows:

Holding Fee

Before signing a lease a landlord or agent can ask a prospective tenant to pay a holding fee of up to 1 week’s rent as opposed to a ‘reservation fee’ which can only be requested from a prospective tenant after their tenancy application has been approved. Acceptance of this fee means the landlord or agent must keep the premises for the prospective tenant for at least 7 days.

Disclosure by landlord or agent:

Before the tenant signs a lease at the start of a tenancy, the landlord or agent must disclose:
• if a sale contract has been prepared for the property
• if a financial institution has commenced court action to take possession of the premises
• and certain material facts about the premises such as serious flood, bushfire or violent crime has occurred in it in the last 5 years.

Failure to disclose this information may entitle the tenant to get out of the lease and seek compensation from the landlord.

The Lease

A landlord or agent must now provide a tenant with a written lease in the standard form at the start of a tenancy. Landlords and agents are no longer permitted to charge tenants a fee to prepare a lease.

But if a tenancy begins and is not covered by a written lease, then it is deemed to be a six month agreement which means that for six months the rent cannot be increased and the tenant cannot be asked to leave unless they have breached the terms of a standard lease.

The standard tenancy agreement and the condition report have been updated. This includes a term which prohibits compulsory carpet cleaning at the end of a tenancy. However the tenant is responsible for leaving the carpet clean. If they don’t, the tenant is required to pay for the carpet to be cleaned.

If the lease allows for the tenant to keep a cat or dog, the lease can include a carpet cleaning term. This is the only circumstance where a carpet cleaning term could be added to a lease.

There are other changes to rental bonds, forms of rent payment, rights to changing locks, water usage and more. Please visit http://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au

This document must not be relied on as legal advice. For more information about this topic, refer to the appropriate legislation.
 

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