A tenant's guide to rent increases
Why do rent increases occur?
There are many reasons rent increases occur throughout the time of your tenancy. Some of these include:
- Changes in rental market conditions
- To assist in the overall increase of expenses of the property including rates and insurance premiums
- Improvements being carried out to the property resulting in the rental value increasing
How often can your rent be increased during your tenancy?
Quite simply put:
- The rent for your tenancy cannot be increased within the first 12 months of your tenancy;
- After any rental increase takes place during your tenancy, the landlord cannot increase the rent during that same tenancy for a further period of 12 months;
- This limit applies to fixed term and periodic agreements.
When you renew your agreement or switch to a different type of lease, it’s still considered the same rental agreement for the purposes of rent increase rules if:
- the landlord hasn’t changed
- at least one of the tenants is the same, and
- the tenant has not moved out of the property between agreements.
This means that if a tenant is already living in the property and the agreement is renewed or the lease type changes, the landlord must wait at least 12 months from the last increase before they can raise the rent.
Agreements that started before 31 October 2024 and that are for a fixed term of less than 2 years will have different rules.
These agreements can have more than 1 rent increase in a 12 month period, but only if the increase:
- is written into the rental agreement, and
- details the amount of the increase or the exact method of calculating the increase (e.g. a dollar amount or percentage). It cannot be unclear, such as statements like ‘in line with the market’ or ‘by the rate of inflation’.
Any increase not written into the agreement is not valid.
If the written agreement also includes the date the increase starts, then the landlord or agent does not need to give the tenant written notice of the increase.
Once the term of the agreement has finished, any new or renewed agreement will have the 12 month rule.
How much can your rent be increased by?
There is currently no limit to the figure in which your rent can be increased by, however the rent increase must be fair, reasonable and justifiable meaning that it must be in line with the market conditions at the time the rent increase is carried out.
How much notice are you required to be given by the Landlord / Real Estate Agent?
The Real Estate Agency you are renting through (or landlord, if you are renting privately), is required to provide you with 60 days notice outlining the rent increase.