Minimum Housing Standards – An update June 2024

Jun 26, 2024

The new “Minimum Housing Standards” (the Standards) for residential tenancies, which came into effect for new tenancies from 1 September 2023, and which will come into effect for all tenancies from 1 September 2024.

The Standards set out in Schedule 5A of the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Regulation 2009 (the RTRA Regulation) prescribe minimum Standards for both the “safety and security” and “the reasonable functionality” of residential premises.

Given the extension of the Act to all tenancies from 1 September 2024, landlords will be well advised to undertake an audit of their rental properties to ensure that:

  1. the premises are “weatherproof, structurally sound and in good repair”;[8]
  2. all fixtures and fittings, including any electrical appliances which form part of the tenancy, are in “good repair”;[9]
  3. windows and doors are fitted with functioning locks or latches;[10]
  4. the premises are “free of vermin, damp and mould”;[11]
  5. the premises enjoy the requisite degree of privacy in those rooms in which a tenant is “reasonably likely to expect privacy”, such as bedrooms;
  6. the plumbing and drainage of the property is functional, and connected to a water supply that supplies hot and cold water, which is suitable for drinking;[12]
  7. all bathrooms and toilets provide the user with privacy; such as a fitted door which closes;[13]
  8. the kitchen, if included, includes a functioning cooktop;[14]
  9. the laundry includes fixtures that provide a functional laundry.[15][16]

It is important to ensure, to maintain a functioning tenancy arrangement, that landlords are astute to identify any damage or deficiency in the condition of the rental premises, and ensure that those issues are rectified promptly.

It is far better for the landlord to be proactive in addressing actual or perceived defects, or any failure to meet the Standards, than allowing the tenant the opportunity of identifying defects and making his or her own demands, predicated upon the tenant’s assessment of the condition of the property. 

Now, more than ever, agents should ensure that inspection schedules, to be completed prior to the commencement of the tenancy, are accurately and comprehensively completed, supplemented, if possible, by photographs, and landlords must not only be careful in selecting the right tenants but alive to ensuring that their residential premises meet, and continue to comply with, the minimum Standards prescribed by the Regulation.

[1] See section 185 of the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008.

[2] See section 217 of the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008.

[3] See section 302 of the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008.

[4] See section 218 of the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008.

[5] See section 92 of the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008.

[6] See section 188 of the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008.

[7] See section 188(5) of the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008.

[8] See Schedule 5A, Part 1, Section 1 “Safety and Security” of the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Regulation.

[9] See section 2 of Schedule 5A of the Regulation.

[10] See section 3 of Schedule 5A of the Regulation.

[11] See section 4 of Schedule 5A.

[12] See Part 2 of Schedule 5A.

[13] See section 7 of Part 2 of Schedule 5A.

[14] See section 8 of Part 2 of Schedule 5A.

[15] It is important to note that this does not include whitegoods.

[16] See section 9 of Part 2 of Schedule 5A.


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