Queensland Rental Laws Are Changing From October 1st 2022

On October 1st 2022, Queensland Tenants, Property Investors, and Property Managers will wake to the first Stage of a series of ongoing changes to the way properties are rented in Queensland.

Some of the key updates include, (but aren’t limited to):

1. The ongoing adoption of provisions around domestic and family violence that first came into effect in October 2021 during Covid.

2. Pets in rental properties. The new legislation contains provisions for agreements and prescribed grounds for declining pets in rental properties. The option to have a blanket ‘No Pets Allowed’ will no longer comply with the RTRA Act.

3. Ending Tenancy Agreements. This amendment provides for a new framework for Ending a Fixed Term Tenancy and becomes very prescriptive on the rights for an Owner to end a Periodic Tenancy. It also covers Approved grounds and timeframes for ending Fixed Term Tenancies.  If this process is poorly managed by an Owner or Agent, it could effectively see an Owner with what many are saying could be ‘A tenant for life’.

4. Maintenance and Repairs. As of October 1st 2022, the spend limits and allowances will increase to allow Tenants seeking emergency repairs to take action to rectify emergency issues where an Owner/Agent fails to act promptly and fairly.

5. Effective from September 2023, the government have flagged the introduction of minimum housing standards. At this stage we are unaware of how prescriptive these may be.

Naturally, the items outlined above have much more detail and significant ramifications to them, and these are simple outlines to highlight some changes. Investor Clients of Ray White Nundah are currently being contacted by their REIQ trained Property Managers on the detailed changes to the RTRA legislation and explaining the changes in detail and making recommendations around The REIQ’s and Ray White’s risk mitigation strategies to suit each Clients specific circumstances.

If you’re a current Ray White Nundah Client, stay tuned, we’ll be in touch to discuss your circumstances shortly.  If your property isn’t already with us, and you’d like to better understand how our REIQ and Ray White best practice guidelines could save you a lot of grief, please give us a call on tel:+61 (7) 3266 2055 and ask for Tania, Pete, or Edwina.

The Ray White Nundah Team