From 9 January 2025, the following changes to rental law came into effect in the ACT:
- additional disclosure requirements for landlords when they advertise a rental property, or when they enter into a tenancy agreement. These include:
- safety information about any swimming pools or spas at the rental property,
- information about electricity embedded networks or other services where a tenant may not be able to choose their service provider, if applicable.
- a requirement to provide a unit titles rental certificate to tenants who rent a unit, which will give tenants information about a unit complex they are renting.
These are in addition to changes that came into effect on 10 December 2024:
- tenants who have experienced domestic or family violence can end their tenancy quickly and without having to pay break lease fees
- rent increases are limited to once per year in all circumstances
- a break lease fee clause is mandatory for all fixed-term tenancies
- increased flexibility for condition reports and inspections when landlords and tenants enter series of tenancy agreements at the same rental property.
Unit title rental certificates
From 10 December 2024, landlords who intend to rent out their unit can ask their owners corporation for a unit title rental certificate. Fees may apply to these requests.
Unit title rental certificates give tenants information about a unit complex they are renting.
Landlords are required to provide unit title rental certificates to tenants before entering a tenancy agreement from 9 January 2025.
Owners’ corporations need to provide a certificate within 14 days of a request. If they don’t have the information for the certificate, the owners’ corporation has 6 weeks to prepare it.
Further Information
You can find more information about these changes, including updated standard residential tenancy terms, on the ACT Government website.
We have also attached an information kit with direct links to information and templates you can use in the event a tenant needs to end their tenancy due to domestic or family violence.
You can see a detailed overview of the specific changes in the Act in our RTA amendments page.
If you have any questions about these rental law changes, please reach out to JACSLPPCivil@act.gov.au.