Minimum housing standards: what a Queensland rental owner must provide

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Kooky

Builder of Shaka, the payment router that pays every agent their commission on closing date.

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An investment property in Queensland is bought with a spreadsheet and kept with a toolbox. The purchase price, the loan and the rent decide whether the numbers work, but the law also sets a floor under what the dwelling itself has to be, and that floor applies on the first day of every tenancy and every day after it. Since 1 September 2024 it has covered every rental home in the state.

The floor is called the minimum housing standards. This guide sets out what they require, where they come from, how they connect to the repair rules that have applied for much longer, and what a tenant can do when a property does not comply. It is written for owners, including those who use a property manager, because the obligation rests with the owner whoever collects the rent. It describes the general rules as the Residential Tenancies Authority, the RTA, publishes them; how they apply to a particular property depends on that property.

Residential Tenancies Authority fact sheets and guidance on minimum housing standards, emergency repairs and repair orders.

Where the standards come from

Queensland's tenancy law has always required a rental home to be fit to live in and in good repair. What changed was the level of detail. The minimum housing standards spell out, item by item, what fitness means, so that an owner, a tenant and the tribunal are all measuring against the same list.

According to the RTA's fact sheet for general tenancies, the standards began on 1 September 2023 for new tenancies, including renewals of existing agreements, and on 1 September 2024 for all remaining tenancies. The second date closed the gap: from then on, a tenancy that had been running for years on a periodic agreement was covered in the same way as a lease signed the week before.

The standards apply, the RTA says, to general tenancies, to moveable dwellings such as caravans and manufactured homes in parks, and to rooming accommodation. Most of this guide concerns general tenancies, the ordinary lease of a house or unit, with the differences for other types noted where they matter.

The RTA groups the standards under two headings. The first is safety and security. The second is reasonable functionality. An owner does not choose between them; a property has to meet both.

The safety and security standards

Five requirements sit under safety and security.

The premises must be weatherproof and structurally sound. The RTA defines weatherproof to mean that the roofing or windows prevent water from entering when it rains. Structurally sound means the building is safe to live in: walls, ceilings and roofs in good condition, and decks and stairs free of rot or defects that could make them give way.

Fixtures and fittings must be in good repair and not likely to cause injury through normal use. This reaches anything attached to the property, from a loose balustrade to a cracked shower screen or a ceiling fan working free of its mount.

There must be functioning locks or latches on all external doors and on windows that can be reached from outside without a ladder. The standard is about being able to secure the home, and it applies to a ground-floor window as much as to the front door.

The premises must be free of vermin, damp and mould. The RTA is explicit that this does not include cases where the vermin, damp or mould was caused by the tenant, a qualification that matters a great deal in a humid climate and is discussed further below.

Finally, there must be privacy coverings for windows in rooms where a tenant could reasonably expect privacy, such as bedrooms. Blinds or curtains meet the standard. The fact sheet notes that a covering is not required where something else, such as a fence or vegetation, already blocks the line of sight.

The reasonable functionality standards

The second group deals with whether the home works as a home.

The property must have adequate plumbing and drainage for the number of people living there, and be connected to a water supply that delivers hot and cold water fit for drinking. Bathrooms and toilets must give the user privacy. Toilets must flush and refill, and be connected to a sewer, a septic system or another approved waste disposal system.

Two standards are conditional. If a kitchen is provided, it must have a functioning cooktop. If laundry facilities are provided, they must have the fixtures needed for a functional laundry, such as tap fittings and adequate plumbing. The RTA adds that the owner does not have to supply a washing machine or other appliances.

The conditional wording is deliberate. The standards do not oblige an owner to add a kitchen or a laundry to a property that has never had one, which matters for some rooming accommodation. They do say that a kitchen offered to a tenant has to be one a tenant can cook in.

Whose job it is to meet them

The RTA states the division of responsibility in two sentences. The property manager or owner must make sure the premises meet the standards at the start of the tenancy and keep them compliant throughout it. The tenant must tell the manager or owner as soon as they become aware that something does not comply.

Appointing an agent does not move the obligation. A property manager acts for the owner, arranges tradespeople and deals with the tenant, but the cost of bringing a property up to standard is the owner's, and so is the consequence if it is not done. An owner who self-manages carries both roles.

The exception is damage or deterioration caused by the tenant. The general repair rules, set out on the RTA's page on routine repairs, make the owner responsible for the cost of repairs unless the damage was caused by the tenant's actions. The minimum standards follow the same line. Where a tenant's conduct is the reason a property no longer complies, the fact sheet says the manager may give the tenant a Notice to remedy breach on Form 11, and the tenant may bear the cost of the repair.

Mould is where this is most often contested. Mould that grows because a roof leaks, a pipe weeps inside a wall or a bathroom has no means of ventilation points to the building, and to the owner. Mould that grows because a home is kept closed up and wet washing is dried indoors may point to the way it is being lived in. The standards do not settle which it is in any given case; they say only that tenant-caused mould is not a breach by the owner. In practice, the cause is established by inspection, and a condition report with photographs taken at the start of the tenancy is the best evidence either side will have.

Why a failure counts as an emergency repair

The most important practical feature of the standards is how they plug into the repair system. Queensland law divides repairs into routine and emergency, and gives tenants stronger remedies for the second kind. The RTA's list of emergency repairs includes a burst water service, a blocked or broken toilet, a serious roof leak, a gas leak, a dangerous electrical fault, and the failure of an essential service or appliance for hot water, cooking or heating. It also includes, as its final item, repairs needed for the premises to meet the minimum housing standards.

That one line changes the timetable. A broken window latch or a patch of structural rot in a deck might once have been argued over as a routine matter. If it means the property falls short of a standard, it is an emergency repair by definition.

Every tenancy agreement has to deal with emergencies in advance. The RTA says the agreement must name a nominated repairer, with a phone number, and state whether the tenant should call the manager or owner first, or the repairer. A tenant who discovers an emergency should notify the person named for emergencies as soon as possible; the RTA notes that telling them verbally is enough, though following up in writing is sensible.

The four-week figure is a limit on what a tenant, or a property manager acting without the owner's instruction, can commit the owner to. Under the RTA's guidance, if the person named for emergencies cannot be reached within a reasonable time, either may arrange the repair up to a maximum of four weeks' rent. A manager may deduct the cost from rent collected, up to the same amount. A tenant who has paid must supply receipts and allow a minimum of seven days for reimbursement, after which they can apply to the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal, QCAT, for an urgent decision.

For an owner, the lesson is that the choice of nominated repairer and the speed of the first response are the two things within their control. A repair arranged by a tenant after two unanswered calls is still paid for by the owner, without the owner having chosen the tradesperson or the price.

What a tenant can do when a home does not comply

The RTA's fact sheet lists five routes open to a tenant. An owner benefits from knowing all of them, because each has its own clock.

The first applies only at the start. If the premises do not meet the standards, the tenant may, within the first seven days of the tenancy, give a Notice of intention to leave on Form 13 with 14 days' notice. The tenancy then ends early. The fact sheet notes that the manager or owner may dispute the notice and claim compensation if they believe the standards were met, so the question can still end up before the tribunal.

The second also belongs to the early months. Within the first three months, a tenant who was given false or misleading information about the state of the property can ask QCAT to end the agreement. Dispute resolution through the RTA has to be attempted first.

The third is the emergency repair process described above. The fourth is a direct application to QCAT for a repair order, available where the tenant cannot notify the person named for emergencies or the repair has not been made within a reasonable time.

The fifth is the ordinary breach process. The tenant gives a Notice to remedy breach on Form 11, allowing at least seven days for the repair. If the breach is not remedied, the tenant can ask the RTA for dispute resolution, online or on Form 16. The service is free, and if it does not produce an agreement the RTA issues a Notice of unresolved dispute, which allows the matter to go to QCAT. The fact sheet says applications to the tribunal must generally be made within six months of the tenant becoming aware of the breach.

The RTA is consistent on one point for tenants, and it protects owners too: a tenant should never stop paying rent to force a repair. Withholding rent is itself a breach of the agreement, and it turns a dispute about the building into a dispute about arrears.

Repair orders stay with the property

A repair order is the tribunal's instrument for a repair that has not been done. The RTA describes it as an order made by QCAT about routine or emergency repairs, and it has a feature that should hold the attention of anyone buying or selling a tenanted investment property: the order attaches to the rental premises, not to a particular tenancy or owner. It continues to apply if the tenant leaves, and if the property is sold.

The tribunal's powers under a repair order are broad. According to the RTA, QCAT may specify what has to be repaired and by when, authorise the tenant to arrange the work at a cost it decides, allow reduced rent until the repair is finished, award compensation for loss of amenity, require an inspection by a suitably qualified person, or end the agreement if the repair is not completed.

The order sets a due date. An owner who cannot meet it has to apply to the tribunal for an extension before the date passes, and must show a reason such as hardship, a shortage of materials or the difficulty of getting work done in a remote location. Failing to comply with a repair order is an offence that, the RTA says, carries a maximum of 50 penalty units.

Repair orders are available for general tenancies. The RTA's guidance says they do not apply to moveable dwelling tenancies, short tenancies or rooming accommodation agreements.

Because an order follows the property, a buyer of a tenanted home inherits any that are outstanding. Asking whether a repair order exists, and whether its due date has passed, belongs with the other questions a purchaser's conveyancer puts to the seller.

Smoke alarms are a separate obligation

Smoke alarms are not on the list of minimum housing standards, but they sit beside it and an owner has to satisfy both. The Queensland Fire Department sets the requirements. Alarms must be photoelectric, must comply with Australian Standard 3786-2014, and must be interconnected so that all sound together. They are required on each storey, in each bedroom and in hallways that connect bedrooms to the rest of the dwelling. They can be hardwired by a licensed electrician or powered by a non-removable 10-year battery.

The department's timetable applied the interconnected standard first to dwellings being sold or leased, and extends it to all existing private homes, townhouses and units from 1 January 2027. A rental property should therefore already comply.

The department also sets a recurring task. Within 30 days before the start of a tenancy, the lessor must test and clean each smoke alarm. During the tenancy, the tenant must test and clean each alarm at least once every 12 months. A fault with a smoke alarm also appears, as a safety matter, in the RTA's list of emergency repairs.

The entry condition report as the baseline

The standards have to be met at the start of the tenancy, which makes the start the moment to record that they were. The entry condition report, completed by the owner or manager and then checked and returned by the tenant, is the document both sides rely on later.

For the purposes of the standards, a useful report does more than tick rooms. It records that each external door and reachable window locks, that there are coverings in the bedrooms, that the cooktop works, that hot water arrives at each tap, that the toilet flushes and refills, and that there is no visible mould, damp or sign of vermin, with dated photographs. If a tenant gives notice in the first week on the ground that the home does not comply, or raises mould six months in, the report is the first thing a conciliator or tribunal member will want to see.

The same discipline applies at each routine inspection. A slow leak under a sink or a soft board on a deck is cheap to fix when it is first seen and becomes an emergency repair once it puts the property below a standard.

What it means when buying an investment property

A buyer weighing up a rental property can use the standards as a checklist before the contract is signed. A building and pest inspection will pick up structural rot, roof leaks and damp, which map directly onto the first and fourth safety standards. It is less likely to report on window latches, bedroom blinds or whether the laundry taps work, and those are the items that produce a notice in the first week of a new tenancy.

Older houses, particularly timber homes on stumps with original windows and verandahs, are the ones most likely to need money spent to comply. That cost belongs in the purchase calculation alongside transfer duty and the first year's insurance. A property bought with a tenant already in place has to comply from the day of settlement, since the new owner steps into the existing agreement.

None of this makes the standards a heavy burden for a well-kept property. They describe a home that keeps the rain out, locks, has running hot water and a working toilet, and is not growing mould in the walls. Most rentals in Queensland met that description long before 2023. What the standards have done is give the description legal force, a list and a timetable, and tie it to remedies that work quickly.

A property that meets the standards on day one and is inspected with them in mind rarely meets the tribunal at all.

Where to check the current rules

The RTA publishes the standards, the fact sheets for general tenancies and rooming accommodation, and the forms mentioned in this guide. It also runs the free dispute resolution service and accepts reports of rental properties advertised in a condition that does not comply. QCAT hears applications for repair orders and tenancy disputes that conciliation does not settle. The Queensland Fire Department publishes the smoke alarm requirements.

The rules described here are those published at the time of writing. Tenancy law in Queensland has been amended several times in recent years, and an owner facing a specific dispute should read the current RTA material or take advice on their own circumstances.

Kooky, from Shaka

Kooky edits Queensland Estate and builds Shaka, the payment router he made for Queensland property professionals. One payment comes in, and every agent, agency and party in the deal receives their signed share on closing date.

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