News

Changes to Residential Tenancies Legislation commencing 3rd of July 2017.

Changes to residential tenancies legislation will clarify or provide solutions to several administrative issues that have been raised by industry. These changes are:

• At the tenant's request, the landlord will be allowed to attend the premises to:
  • ​do non-urgent maintenance and repairs without giving at least 48 hours' notice
  • do garden maintenance without giving a minimum of 7 days' notice
  • show prospective tenants through the property before the last 28 days of the agreement.

A landlord cannot initiate or entice any request. The request must be the tenant's own choice.

• If a tenant signs a lease without knowing that the landlord intends to sell the property, and within two months the property is sold, the tenant has the right to terminate the lease. However, if the landlord gives the tenant written notice of the contract for sale, the tenant must then exercise their right to terminate within two months after receiving the notice.
• After taking possession of the premises, a landlord must wait two business days before dealing with abandoned property. During these two days the landlord must allow the tenant reasonable access to the property to reclaim their abandoned items.
• The Form 2 'Notice by landlord to remedy breach of agreement - Notice of termination' has been updated to clarify information about postal delivery and serving the notice on the tenant. The form will be made available in a new format that can be completed electronically.