If you own or live in one of the 800,000 rental properties in New South Wales, you’ll be interested in the NSW Government’s review of laws surrounding these homes.
“This legislation is only reviewed every five years and it is important that NSW Fair Trading gets it right,” said Real Estate Institute of New South Wales CEO Tim McKibbin.
The industry body has made a detailed submission as part of the government’s review of the Residential Tenancies Act 2010.
REINSW’s submission detailed comment on bonds; holding fees; NCAT hearings; landlord and tenant awareness of their respective obligations in regards to safety; quiet enjoyment and clarifying the landlord’s responsibilities in relation to neighbouring properties not owned by the landlord; carpet cleaning; smoking; surveillance cameras; mould; pest control; the safety and standard of the residential property; inspections; concerns regarding the requirements placed on property managers with regard to the safety and standards of residential property; termination of tenancies and eviction orders; issues arising in relation to the sale of a property; and the electronic service of notices.
“A lot of people are dependent on the regulatory environment with around 800,000 tenancies in NSW. This is therefore a very important piece of legislation as it prescribes the way in which people living in tenancies will be governed,” said McKibbin.
Last June, the REINSW Property Management Chapter Committee formed a dedicated sub-committee to identify those areas in the current legislation requiring reform. “The sub-committee sought input from members and considered that input as part of their overall review of the legislation. Once the sub-committee completed their assessment, a comprehensive report was compiled to form the basis of REINSW’s submission,” said McKibbin.
McKibbin said modern forms of communication should be utilised, and REINSW cannot see any reason why email should not be a legislated method of service for agents, landlords and tenants.
REINSW’s submission also recognises that there are areas in the Act and in the standard residential tenancy agreement which require review and amendment in order to address frequently encountered residential tenancy issues for the parties; remedy the imbalance of outcomes achieved via the application of the legislation; remove some of the unintended unfair consequences in the current Act; create a better residential tenancy system for all parties involved and for the economy generally.
Source: This article originally appeared here