Too much chocolate last week, a day of remembrance yesterday: a few days off are as welcome in real estate as any other industry, particularly last weekend as open homes were swapped for BBQs over the Easter weekend.
It will be a short breather however for property managers once again gearing up for the latest rental changes, kicking off at the start of May. Now they might not have the same kind of clickbait headlines as we have seen of late, but they DO have a big impact on how tenancies are dealt with, both at commencement and throughout.
Starting off, a new standardised tenancy application form will now apply, reducing complexity but also reducing the amount of information that can be requested by a property manager or landlord, and how it can be held. Property managers will now be further restricted in the questions they can ask of a prospective tenant for a rental, including regarding rental bond history or any legal actions regarding a previous tenancy. Supporting documents will also be limited in number, with a maximum of 2 documents each in 3 categories permitted.
Tenants will still be required to provide proof of identity, but can refuse to provide copies at their discretion, with property managers limited to sighting only in those cases. All personal details from unsuccessful applications must be destroyed within 3 months of provision, unless specifically requested otherwise by the prospective tenant.
Third party platforms for applications will still be permitted, provided they use the new required forms, but prospective tenants MUST be provided with a method to apply that does not require a payment or restricted platform. Given the rise of this style of “pay to apply” or “pay to prequalify” platforms, this is one step that can be generally seen as a positive one.
Once in place, tenants will now have a 48 hour rather than 24 hour minimum notice period for inspections, including in cases where a property is for sale. Where a Notice to Leave (by landlord) or Notice of Intention to Leave (by tenant) has been issued there are additional limitations on the number of entries that can be conducted for ANY reason within a 7 day period. Tenants can still allow more flexible access by mutual agreement, but it cannot be required outside of these new limits. How this plays out in reality will be an interesting one to watch…