Posted by Rob Honeycombe on 22 June 2010
Keeping up with changes in legislation can be tough and for Brisbane property owners the penalties for non-compliance can be nasty. Somehow you’re supposed to absorb all the info and make changes, often without much notice. So here’s a heads-up on one of the latest.
The legislation won’t be passed until September but from December 1st it looks certain you’ll need a pool fence inspection if you want to sell or rent your property. A qualified inspector will need to check it and issue a compliance certificate, and you’ll need to do any works to bring it up to today’s laws. So for example those self-closing doors on the living room won’t be enough any more. Your certificate will need reissuing every 2 years and body corps will be required to have an annual inspection.
Our suggestion: get these underway well before December because you won’t be allowed to sign a lease or a sale contract without your certificate and the inspectors are going to be a tad busy. Watch the small print too – any body of water more than 300mm deep that’s kept full and usually used for swimming will be captured. Visit the website or talk to your property manager now.
Landlords might like to keep an eye on further changes in the wind. We expect you’ll be required to prepare a Sustainability Declaration from mid 2011 to show any prospective tenant if the home’s energy efficient etc. And in a controversial move the tenancy lobby groups are currently arguing for an end to giving tenants a “notice to leave without grounds”. So landlords may lose the ability to choose who lives in their property. If you’d like to have a say on this one why not send the Housing Minister an email? It’s Karen Struthers at communityservices@ministerial.qld.gov.au
Like to have a rant on these issues?! Make a comment.
Tags: pool fencing laws Queensland, Queensland tenancy legislation, Residential Tenancies Authority, Sustainability Declaration Queensland, tenancy agreement Queensland, tenant selection Brisbane, Tenants Union Queensland
Posted in Brisbane landlords, real estate marketing | No Comments »
Posted by admin on 16 April 2009
If landlords have felt the balance of power has been weighted toward tenants in the past, then they have a shock coming…. the new laws appear absolutely in favour of the tenants… until you have a closer look and then you realise that no-one really came out better off.
So what are the new laws? There are a few too many to list, but the laws we find most significant are the following:
End of Fixed Term Lease – the timeframe has changed from two weeks notice from the landlord to the tenant to 2 months notice….but the tenant still only needs to issue 2 weeks. How is this fair I hear you ask? Well, it’s absolutely not, but the thing is, the tenancy union obviously didn’t think this through, as now we’ll be asking tenants what they want to do 3 months into a 6 months lease and if they don’t want to resign, we’ll be putting the property on the market up to two months beforehand, meaning more inspections for the poor tenants. Why, we ask, wasn’t it just 1 month from either party? This would have made much more sense and been a much fairer solution.
Tenants now have the right to refuse for photographs to be taken for advertising purposes where they include personal items and this may affect sales. If you’re a landlord and need to sell your property, you may not be able to take internal shots until the tenant moves out! I thought we were in tough times – why would policy makers make it harder for investors? Quick Tip – have professional photos and floor plans taken either while your own possessions are in the property, or when it’s vacant.
Tenant consent needed for Open for Inspections! Again, this is absolutely ridiculous. So not only are you not allowed to take photos of your own property in order to sell, but now you can’t allow people through by open home. The Tenancy Union (who advocated for much of the new laws) have failed their clients. So now, instead of having 1-2 opens per week for approx 15- 30 minutes, we may need to go through 4 – 5 times per week to take the same amount of people through!
To view the new laws at length, please visit www.rta.qld.gov.au and please don’t hesitate to advise your local member exactly what you think of the new laws…it’s the only way we might be able to effect change prior to inception on July 1.
We’re holding a seminar for landlords on May 13th 2009 and our special guest speaker will be the General Manager of the RTA, Fergus Smith. Here’s your chance to ask questions and give your views to the head of the Authority. To book your seat and for more info visit www.beesnees.com.au/seminar
Tags: Queensland tenancy legislation, Residential Tenancies Authority, Tenants Union Queensland
Posted in Brisbane landlords | No Comments »
Keeping up with changes in legislation can be tough and for Brisbane property owners the penalties for non-compliance can be nasty. Somehow you’re supposed to absorb all the info and make changes, often without much notice. So here’s a heads-up on one of the latest.
