Welcome to Sisters In Law, news.com.au’s weekly column solving all of your legal problems. This week, our resident lawyers and real-life sisters Alison and Jillian Barrett from Maurice Blackburn help a man whose landlord threatened to up his rent because he asked for repairs.
I’ve been in the same apartment for nine years and the rent has stayed quite reasonable in that time – it’s in Sydney quite close to the CBD and I pay $500 for a one-bed. Recently, I asked the landlord to fix some issues that have been going on for a while, such as dripping taps, a broken wardrobe door and old bathroom grout that needs filling in. I put in the requests and the landlord came back and said that I could either pay for the repairs myself or the rent would go up to $550 a week.
On periodic tenancies, your rent can only be increased once in a 12-month period. Your landlord must also provide you at least 60 days’ written notice.If you do not have a written agreement, then your landlord cannot increase the rent during the first six months.You are entitled to negotiate or object to your rent increase if you think the proposed rent increase is too high or not allowed under the law.
You will be required to prove that the increase is excessive, so you should provide the Tribunal with evidence of rents forIn relation to the repairs you have requested, there is a requirement that a rental property must always be fit to live in.The repairs you have requested seem quite reasonable. You aren’t asking the landlord to fully renovate the bathroom, just to perform some minor repairs.
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