Tenants' Union of Tasmania

Substandard Housing

Tenants regularly seek advice from the TUT in relation to accommodation that is unhealthy, unsanitary, dangerous, inadequate, inefficient, dark and unsecure.  Currently the problem is acute with the shortage of housing combined with high rents meaning that there is less incentive for landlords to maintain houses at a standard acceptable to the Tasmanian community.  
People are desperate for accommodation and would prefer substandard and/or expensive housing to none at all. Exacerbating the situation is the increase in property investors looking for maximum returns on investment and interstate landlords who may not have even seen the property and do not understand the human impact of the lack of repairs.
 
Case Study
Tina* is a single parent with a 3 year old and a 6 month old child in the Brighton area. She pays $200.00 per week rent, which is affordable for her currently. Tina sought advice from the TUT in relation to general repairs to the house, which is in very poor condition, and in relation specifically with her septic tank, which has leaked into her yard. She had approached the property owner several weeks ago, but he had refused to remedy the problem. The advice we gave Tina was that most of the problems with the house existed prior to her tenancy, and the Act only requires that a property is repaired in accordance with the condition at the start of the tenancy.  The septic tank issue could be tackled in the following ways:

(1) Tina could seek an order from the Magistrates Court that the septic tank be repaired. She would need to pay an application fee, provide proof of the problem, and argue that the property owner is liable to repair it;

(2) she could pay for the repair to be completed herself, and seek reimbursement from the owner (which may lead to an application in Court); or

(3) she could terminate the lease.

Tina told the TUT that she did not have any money up-front to pay for the repairs. She said that she did not have anywhere else to go, should she terminate the lease, and she said that she was afraid of the Court process. Although she said that her youngest child had been quite ill, and she suspected that the septic tank was the cause of the problem, she would try and handle it herself. The TUT did not hear further from Tina.
 

The Residential Tenancy Act 1997 does not directly cover the issue of substandard housing, but s32(1) states:
The owner of residential premises is to maintain the premises as nearly as possible in the condition, apart from reasonable wear and tear, that existed on the day on which the residential tenancy agreement was entered into.
 
There is no direction given in the Act about the state of the premises required prior to rental. Uniquely in Australian tenancy law, the Tasmanian Act allows the owner to let premises deteriorate (within the meaning of ‘reasonable wear and tear’) throughout the tenancy: there is no requirement for general maintenance to keep the premises to the standard originally leased.
 
Under the Substandard Housing Control Act 1973, the Director of Housing may reduce the rent of a substandard property until it is brought up to standard.  The TUT understands that this Act is presently under review and although it does not set minimum or acceptable standards of housing, it may be useful in extreme circumstances.

In Queensland, the Landlord must provide and maintain the premises in good repair throughout the tenancy.  In all other jurisdictions in Australia except Tasmania, the Landlord must provide and maintain the premises in a reasonable state of repair throughout the tenancy.
 
Recommendation: The Residential Tenancy Act 1997 states that landlords maintain their properties in good repair, rather than the condition that they were in at the beginning of the lease.
 
Recommendation: A Housing Standards code be developed in consultation with interested parties covering health, heating, insulation, plumbing, security and other relevant subjects.  This code would be incorporated into the Residential Tenancy Act 1997 and included as a term in tenancy agreements.