13th July 2019: Property Management: New Renting Laws now in Force

Brought to you by State Government of Victoria (Consumer Affairs Victoria).

Rent increases for new tenancy agreements limited to once per year.

Under all tenancy agreements (fixed-term and periodic) entered into on or after 19 June 2019, rent can only be increased once every 12 months, rather than at six-monthly intervals.

Landlords must not increase the rent before the end of a fixed-term agreement, unless the terms of the agreement allow for this.

How does it work?

Six-monthly increases will still be allowed for agreements entered into before 19 June 2019 that are:

• existing fixed-term tenancy agreements of less than five years, and
• existing periodic (month-by-month) tenancy agreements.

For all rent increases, use the updated notice of rent increase from the CAV's Rent increases page.

Case Study: Existing lease started before 19 June 2019

Anna lives in her rented home on a fixed-term tenancy agreement (lease) that includes a term allowing for rent increases during the fixed term.

She is concerned when she receives a Notice of rent increase in August 2019, as it is less than 12 months since her last increase, and she knows the law has changed.

Anna's lease started before the law changed on 19 June 2019, so this means her landlord can still increase the rent once every six months.

However, if Anna and her landlord enter into a new fixed term lease after the current one ends, or if her current lease expires and automatically rolls over to create a new periodic lease, the new law will apply to her new lease. Her landlord will be able to increase the rent under the new lease only once every 12 months.

More information

You can learn more about this reform on the CAV web pages:

• Leases and bonds - information for property managers and landlords

• Rent increases

• Can a landlord, owner or agent put the rent up whenever they want?

Preparing for change

More than 130 reforms to the Residential Tenancies Act 1997 were passed in the Victorian Parliament in 2018. Some were selected for early implementation this year, with the remaining reforms to be fully implemented by 1 July 2020.

To help you prepare for these changes, a new dedicated Changes to renting laws section on the CAV website will serve as a one-stop information source on:

• the early reforms that are already in effect
• stakeholder consultation
• key reforms and their impact on tenants and landlords.

Additional resources including fact sheets will be progressively updated.