New Rental Law Changes Queensland - What do landlords need to know?
Changes to the Queensland rental laws - Stage 2 came into effect as 30 September 2024 and minimum housing standards also came into effect as of 1 September 2024 (for all remaining tenancies).
The team at Your Haven Realty have studied the new legislation and highlighted key changes, we've also included a link to all the updates via the RTA website.
New limits for reletting costs for break leases
- Re-letting costs for break leases, you can no longer charge 1 weeks rent +GST, advertising and rent until a new tenant has been found. It's instead a percentage basis: if the tenant has been in the property for less than 25% of the lease term = 4weeks rent, 25% to less than 50% = 3 weeks rent, 50% to less than 75% = 2 weeks rent and 75% or more into the lease = 1 week rent.
Charging utilities - water/ power etc
- A tenant must receive utility bills within four-weeks of the lessor receiving the bill, otherwise the tenant does not need to pay. If you pay the bill directly, ensure you send to your Property Manager sooner than later
Bond amount changes
- Bonds can no longer exceed 4 weeks rent (previously you could charge a higher amount if the rent was higher than $750). This is capped at 4 weeks rent
Rent payments
- Tenants must be offered two ways to pay their rent (ones that don't included any fees)
Proclamation part two of the rental laws come into effect as of 1st may 2025 (we'll cover those changes in our next post).
Useful resources:
- Ongoing Rental Law Changes - RTA
- Rental Law Resources Queensland - RTA
- Minimum Housing Standards Queensland - RTA
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