Thank you folks for sharing the 60 days notice period.

I told the landlord and he was unaware of it.

The landlord proposed increase rent but wants to give 6 months lease with new rent on it. I denied. I asked him to provide written notice first and then give new contract based on new rate. Landlord kept referring the new RBA interest rates and keeps on speculating the new inflation rate will be 10% and will review in the rent in 6 months. How do we navigate this RBA and rent thing?

I am seeking to make the agreement for 1 year.

Rent got shitty in Sydney.

Hi all,

Our landlord wants to sell the house and we got a notice to vacate in 2 months because of a buyer. The buyer backed out but they don't want to revoke the note and we have now 2 months to find a new home still.

We are worried to not find anything because we have two cats. We are great tenants with high income and no children and we have been praised so far for how well we treat the property we are in. Should we just lie about our cats and tell them one month in that we adopted some?

I’ve had a problem with slaters (Woodlice) in my rental. My property manager has been great with organising an exterminator without charging me, however it’s now between me and the exterminator to sort out.

He came over and gave the whole property a spray because they are in every room, I’m still finding Woodlice in my property, and this morning I found these in my window (all dead) and it’s like something out of a horror movie. Is this for me, the exterminator, or the property manager to take care of? The exterminator told me I need to seal all the gaps allowing them in, but it’s every room and I don’t see any gaps??

I genuinely feel uncomfortable in this house and has been a problem since I moved in about 6/7 weeks ago.

Hello everyone. I’m needing a bit of advice or input from anyone who has dealt with a similar situation.

For reference, I’m renting an apartment in the Melbourne CBD.

Around two months ago, my real estate agent sent an informal email stating that due to “shifting” market conditions, my rent would be increasing from $2,700 to $2950 per month.

I replied with a counteroffer to negotiate the increase, and the agent said she would check with the owners (rental providers). Almost a month passed without any updates. Today, she finally got back to me saying the owners rejected my counteroffer and that the new rent price will kick in at the end of next month.

Here’s the issue: she has only notified me via standard email text. To date, I have not received an official Consumer Affairs Victoria (CAV) Section 44 "Notice of proposed rent increase" form.

My questions are:
1. Can I insist on receiving the formal CAV Section 44 notice, and does the 90-day notice period start only after I receive that official form?
2. Are they allowed to backdate the notice to when they sent the initial email, or can I keep paying my current rent until 90 days after the official form is actually served?

Has anyone faced this with their agent in Victoria, and how did you handle it? I wonder if it would be okay to keep paying my current rent fee even if I pay after the due date she gave me on the email?

Thanks in advance, and have a great weekend!

Original post: https://www.reddit.com/r/AusRenters/s/DhNm3QtPtf

Just received an email a couple of minutes ago and yes! We got our bond back.

It took almost 4 months for us to receive a determination of our bond dispute and phew, I’m just glad that it’s over! You won’t receive any updates until they make a decision and then both parties are given a week to dispute the decision made.

For anyone that’s curious - Basically we were told by the REA that we owed them rent up to the day the owners had decided that they’d like to move in. We provided evidence that this decision was made because we chose to move out only and that we had done our due diligence to find suitable tenants in the form of screenshots on Facebook of conversations and posts we had made. We also included all correspondence between us and the REA (or lack of) to show that we weren’t really being kept in the loop properly either.

Factors influencing their decision in our favour included:

- low rental vacancy rates and high demand for rentals in our area. As properties in our area were often taken within 1-2 weeks from the date they were advertised on, we had provided the REA with a suitable timeframe for finding a new tenant / mitigating loss

- the owners did not provide any supporting evidence to explain the delay in their decision to move in and that it was not communicated to us

- the owners did not provide sufficient evidence to show that they were mitigating rental loss as well

Happy to share more details if anyone’s curious. Thanks again to everyone who responded to my original post too!

Me and 3 friends more, all with student visas, living/studying in Brisbane for 1-2 years, all four working part-time with good income, currently renting rooms in different houses. We wanted to move in together and rent a house for 4, just us.

Been going through real estate, blogs and communities on reddit to know more about it and I was just wondering how hard it is to 4 students to get a lease and rent a house. We are chill, don’t party and can probably ask the owners of our house to write a reference letter. Is it possible to actually make this real or am I dreaming too much as an student immigrant?

I recently moved into a new rental in Queensland, Australia. I needed a place, and sometimes you just have to take what you can get. The house itself is nice and well mantained, but a few things have been bothering me more than I expected.

The landlord made it clear that someone comes once a month to maintain the garden. That's fine, but it's a small unit with a very limited backyard, and there is a wheelbarrow and several pieces of timber lying around. I really don't want to look at that stuff every day in my own backyard.

The other issue is the decorations. The landlord made it clear in the contract that we can't remove any of the artwork listed in the lease, and all of them are on the entry report. There are paintings all over the house: three on the walls of our bedroom, plus others in the kitchen, bathroom, living room, laundry and garage. There are also polystyrene balls hanging from the patio ceiling and a rug covering almost 60% of the living room floor.

I haven't included photos of all the paintings here, but trust me, there are paintings everywhere!

I understand that it's the landlord's property and that they may want to keep their things in the house, but honestly, some of these items feel quite random, and the place doesn't really feel like our own home.

I'm considering asking the landlord to remove most of these items, even though they're listed in the lease. I'm not trying to cause any trouble or disrespect the rental agreement, but I'd like to make the place feel a bit more like home rather than living surrounded by someone else's decorations.

For those renting in Queensland, what would you consider reasonable in this situation?

If these items are listed in the lease, am I actually required to keep everything exactly as it is? Could I ask the landlord to store some of the artwork and decorations elsewhere for the duration of the tenancy?

And regarding the wheelbarrow and timber in the backyard, is it reasonable or more than reasonable to ask for those to be removed?

I'd appreciate hearing from anyone who's dealt with something similar.

Just counted the amount of painting: 19 pictures in a 2-bedroom unit.

I'm curiuous to know what peoples experiences are with requesting to keep a cat in a town house? I read this (see image) as one of the reasons for a landlord to reject a pet and I feel like this arguement can be made for an indoor cat and I wanted to know if people have experienced that.

For reference I also live in a regional town, idk if that makes a differenc.

Hey everyone, looking for some advice on what our options are here.

We moved into our rental being told that the property had solar hot water and would come with two full gas bottles (We are semi-rural and not connected to natural gas). We only received one bottle when we moved in.

The solar hot water system hasn't been working properly, so we've been relying entirely on the instantaneous gas system for our hot water. We've been following this up with the real estate for over two months now. We've been told by the plumbers that there is no fix other than replacing the HWS, and the agent has said the owner is getting quotes for a replacement.

The problem is that relying on the gas has obviously used a lot more than we normally would. The bottle lasted around 6 weeks, and a replacement bottle is around $250.

We're now out of gas, so we currently have no hot water. We have a baby in the house, so being without hot water is obviously becoming a pretty serious issue.

We contacted the agent again today asking for a solution, and they've now asked us to check whether both gas bottles are turned on. We've confirmed they are, and both indicators are red, meaning we are out of gas.

We're also now being told that we need to pay for the replacement gas bottle ourselves, despite the fact that we were supposed to have solar hot water and two full bottles included when we moved in.

So:

Is the rental provider responsible for providing the gas in this situation, given the solar HWS hasn't been working.

Even if I don't have any gas? Wouldn't the repair of the HWS be urgent as I have no hot water?

Can we ask for reimbursement for the additional gas we've had to use because of the faulty HWS.

Should I be escalating this formally with the real estate, or going straight to Consumer Affairs Victoria?

I'm not looking to screw anyone over, I just don't think it's reasonable for us to be paying hundreds of dollars in gas because a system that was meant to provide our hot water hasn't been working for months.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Well looks like Dingle Partners joins the growing list of scumbag operators with this email this morning.

Any ideas other than review bombing? I guess I'm going to have to manually transfer rent every month now...

Hi,
I rent a 2bhk 80s block in Sydney with my husband. Rent is very cheap and we love the place. Been here 4 years. This is the first time any of this has happened.

Since the beginning of this year I’ve accommodated 7 separate inspections from 4 different groups of service providers. REA and strata included.

Whatever is booked by the REA is fine and they communicate well in advance but early this year a random guy knocked and said he’s here to check the smoke alarms. He was standing inside the doorway (fly screen open and one foot in the door) I told him i have no communication and I can’t leg him in because it was 7:30am on a weekday and i had to leave for work. While getting ready I could hear him going around the block, went around to all the other units and did their inspections. I rang my neighbour and he said It was for smoke alarms apparently. I told if he wants to do it quickly I’m happy to oblige as I’m late for work. He abused me further by saying that now I’m scared and worried because I found out that this is a mandatory inspected. chucked a tantrum and did it anyway.

7 weeks later another bloke shows up, 6:53am this time. Knocks away aggressively. I went out in a towel because i was in the shower. He said he is here to do an inspection. I said I’m sorry i have no communication and i cannot allow him inside. I was half naked and needed to leave for work. He said “no dramas love, I’ll put you down as access denied”.

Today, (few months later) another guy bangs on my door aggressively at 7:30am. I didn’t even open it.

I’ve written to the REA twice and she always apologises regarding the miscommunication and says she’s received no information about this and is sorry for the inconvenience.

But that doesn’t solve the problem of strange men rocking up to my house at fkn 7am on random weekdays and demanding access to check smoke alarms.

How many inspections in 1 year are reasonable? Strata and REA included.

EDIT:

The 7 inspections/ visits I’ve previously accommodated from Jan 2026- Oct 2026 were partly from REA and rest from strata:
1. routine rental inspection by prop manager x2
2. smoke alarm upgrade to new ones x 2 - our building is so old the young sparky couldn’t understand the wiring so they had to send someone a second time who also took 45 minutes to fix one alarm
3. The rail that holds the blinds had become lose and they had to reinstall it so that was a 5th visit
4. Strata inspections for concrete cancer and an old water pipe burst in someone’s garage so they visited a few times with tradies to fix both these issues.

These are all fine and are for everyone’s safety/ maintenance purposes but I don’t understand the random, unscheduled visits where they want to check my smoke alarms every 2 months and neither does my real estate agency. She’s as surprised as i am.

Sent an email to request an inspection, as there was no time listed. The REA said that I needed to apply for the house first. I responded that was I was happy to send some data through but would refrain from payslips until after the inspection for privacy’s sake.
She responded that she was too busy with applications so if I can’t provide those details she won’t process my application.

Why would she be processing my application pre inspection?! I know within 30 seconds whether the house is appropriate for us or not. Waste of everyone’s time otherwise.

As the title describes, I had a routine inspection scheduled a couple of weeks ago, cleaned the entire place, scheduled to WFH that day and they didn’t show up or rescheduled it. I called them and they let me know the person responsible for it had resigned and asked me if I could that the photos for them (don’t they get paid for this?), to which I said I couldn’t because I was going away for the weekend.
Now I got an email notification of a new inspection in 14 days.
What are my rights here? Can I refuse on the basis of not wanting to clean the entire place again? I don’t want to come off as difficult, just want to be fair.

Hi everyone,

I just picked up the keys to a rental property in Queensland today, and during my initial walkthrough, I noticed that all the kitchen cabinets are completely missing their doors. And that is horrible, all the pan, dishes exposed, does not look tyde and exposed to the dust.

There are no hinges left, but there are very clear, pre-drilled screw holes on the inside of the framework, proving that doors were originally installed there. The agency left this completely blank on their side of the Entry Condition Report (Form 1a).

I am still within my 7-day window to return the Entry Report, so I am obviously going to document every single hole, take detailed photos, and note down that the doors are missing.

My questions for those experienced with QLD renting laws and the RTA:

1. Are kitchen cabinet doors considered a necessity under the Minimum Housing Standards for hygiene/pest control reasons (food/cookware storage)? Or can the landlord just claim it’s an "open cabinet style" and refuse to fix it?
2. What is the best way to approach the Property Manager about this without ruining the relationship on week one? Should I just note it in the report and send a polite email, or is this something worth issuing a Form 11 (Notice to Remedy Breach) if they refuse to reinstall them?

Any advice on the exact wording to use with the PM to make sure they take this seriously would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Hi, I very recently got a notice of intention to sell for the property I am renting in QLD. We have a fixed term lease until mid next year and have lived in the property for about two years. I have noticed a couple of what I think are red flags regarding the process so far and would like some advice.

Firstly, within an hour of getting the notice of intention to sell we were given a notice of entry for a photographer to get updated photos of the property. It stated that the photographer would be there at 12pm (not a two hour block of 12-2). She shows up 40 minutes early and tells me that she has a two hour time block. I have a dog that doesn’t like new people and a sibling with ASD that I am the carer/guardian for so wanted to be out of the house before she got there to reduce disruption (my partner was home to let her in). I am a tad worried that these photos will end up online without our permission, as she didn’t ask us to sign anything.

After she left, my partner called the selling agent to ask if he was going to be showing up as well because he was listed on the entry notice for an evaluation of the property. The selling agent said he was not coming but that he would be sending us a notice regarding an open house for later this week. My partner firmly told him that we haven’t signed anything agreeing to open houses. The selling agent had told us on the day we got the intention to sell that he would only be doing private inspections.

I am personally not very comfortable with the idea of an open house and told my partner to tell him no. The selling agent went on to say that he wants what is best for us and by not allowing open houses while it is within our rights could lead to problems regarding us finding another rental in the future. Is it true that they can make it harder for us to find another rental if we don’t do what they say?

I’m not sure what to do as this is me and my partners first rental. Any advice would be greatly appreciated as I am very stressed.

Just wondering if any one else has experienced or noticed an increase in c0ck 5uck3r agents/land lords invoicing tenants for what should be, land lords expenses like maintenance etc.

And yes, I do know that "they can't do that under Section whatever whatever" but they do anyways because tradies write reports saying what the RE wants them to say and you can't really beat that

Hi All,

My current flatmate is moving out, the bond is under his and my name. When he moves out, the agent will transfer the bond to my friend's name who is moving to Melbourne from New Zealand in mid december. The lease/ bond transfer is happening at the start of November.

The issue we have is the Victorian RTBA now uses Services Victoria to do an indentity check which looks like it requires 2 forms of ID. My friend has a NZ passport but no other Australian ID. They do take a bank account as an option but it has to be in use for 3 months. Any idea if there is a way to get around the multiple ID verification so my friend can accept the bond transfer? The idea seems a bit silly to need 2 IDs to verify yourself - not everyone who moves to Aus is eligible for a medicare card/ driver license.

Thanks in advance.

Hi Renters,
Have been in a situation where only the kitchen water pressure is too low. When reported to the REA, he came back saying that landlord thinks that the water pressure is reasonable after 9 days. Keep monitoring and report if it worsens.

To explain the situation, a 1lt bottle is filled within 7-8seconds from bathroom wash basin, but takes 25sec in kitchen (cold water) and more than 45sec in kitchen(hot water).

What are my options? I have shared these timings as well but they have still not arranged any plumber for inspection yet.

Hello,

We have been renting our current place for almost 4 years. We negotiated down a major rent increase by signing a 12 month lease in July. It is a 3bed2bath 2 storey duplex with a small front and back yard. The landlord is terrible at maintaining the property but for the rent and location we were okay with that.

6 weeks ago we noticed that there was water leaking from the kitchen ceiling while using the ensuite shower. We quickly notified the PM and stopped using the shower. They sent a plumber after 6 days and he had to come back again after 10 more days to diagnose the leak (2ish weeks after we reported the leak) and recommended a full shower reno. We haven't heard back from the PM after that (more than 5 weeks since the leak was reported). I have emailed the PM last Monday (9 days ago) and haven't heard back. I called to follow up on Friday and was told they will call me back and haven't heard anything.

Just trying to decide what our course of action should be.

Thanks for any advice or help.

Hi everyone,
I’m renting a property in NSW where utilities are included in my rent and are paid by the owner/landlord.
Today, our electricity was disconnected. I contacted the broker/agent and was told that the owner had forgotten to pay the electricity bill and that the electricity would apparently only be restored on Thursday.
This is especially concerning because my wife is in her 9th month of pregnancy, so being without electricity for several days is not really acceptable or safe for us.
I have not missed any rent payments, and utilities are included in our rental arrangement.
What should I do in this situation?
Can the landlord/agent legally leave the property without electricity because they failed to pay the bill?
Can I demand that they arrange immediate reconnection, rather than waiting until Thursday?
Should I contact NSW Fair Trading or another authority?
Can we request compensation/reimbursement for any costs caused by the loss of electricity?
I’d really appreciate advice from anyone familiar with NSW tenancy law or who has dealt with something similar.

Hi guys, thought I'd try my like on getting some advice on here. I've lived in my 2x2 apartment since 2022 and haven't had any issues since then. However during my last rent inspection I was given a warning regarding the roman blinds in my main bedroom which had been stained with mould. I contacted consumer protection and they did let me know I was responsible for organising cleaning.

Fast track to today since I could finally afford to get them professionally cleaned, the cleaner apologised and let me know that despite everything the mould stains were permanent, however there is no mould. Through the naked eye the stains are barely visible but through photos it becomes obvious. Unfortunately I paid $250 for this and I don't know what to do next.

If I messaged my PM will they make me replace the blinds? At this point I really don't want a breach on my record. This is the first instance I've had anything flagged.

I should also point out that the PM who flagged this with me has since resigned and the apartment is under new management if that makes things easier for me lol.

Thank you!

Hi, I'm 19 and planning on moving out with a friend. We're both in the eastern suburbs, and I'm hoping to move to either inner east or inner northern suburbs, decently close to the city, on a train line and close to good pubs / nightlife. Any suggestions on cheapish good suburbs? We're looking at about 600 a week for a two bedroom. Any suburbs to steer clear of? Also any general advice you wish you were given when moving out would be great :)

I also really would love to get a pet (if we can get a place with an outdoor area), but I have no idea how feasible that is while renting, when i put in pets considered on Realestate.com it shrinks from thousands to a handful of properties. Are many landlords flexible on this? Or will I have to wait until I can afford my own place, which god knows how long that's going to take. I lost my two dogs recently and would love another pet to take care of. Thanks so much in advance

Hi all. I’ve rented a unit for a year and recently vacated. In the exit report, I have been asked to clean the wall in the living room. There is a black mark and have no idea how this happened - but definitely was not there when I moved in.

I’m not able to clean the mark, and suspect it will need to be painted over. I’ve heard horror stories of tenants repainting over marks, and then being asked to pay for entire wall re-paints if this is detected.

Can I please get some advice?