Given the recent de-funding of the tenant advice services and the current review of tenancy laws, maybe we should recommend the law requires the Minister to provide a percentage of tenant bond interest to independent tenant advisory services for tenants!!  This would protect tenants access to tailored advise services in perpetuity.

Earlier this month, Mr Magnus Hammar, Secretary General at the International Union of Tenants  (based in Sweden) spoke at the National Housing Conference in Brisbane.

In one of his talks he looks at the rental situation in Australia and Europe and highlights the relatively weak tenancy protections offered in Australian jurisdictions.

To see an overview of Mr Hammar’s presentation click here.

Do you know how much notice tenants are generally required to be given when the lessor/agent or a contractor want to enter to carry out repairs or maintenance or to show the property to a prospective purchaser or tenant?

How much notice do you think is fair?  Let us know by making a comment here or you can write and tell the Residential Tenancies Authority during their review of the Act.  We’ll post again soon and let you know the current situation, in case you’re not sure.

Read the RTA’s Discussion Paper by clicking here.

POST SCRIPT         What the law says is that for entries to show prospective purchasers or tenants or to carry out repairs or maintenance tenants must be provided with 24 hours notice in writing on a Form 9 Entry Notice (unless the tenant otherwise agrees). This is a very short timeframe made worse by the following. Because the time is epressed in hours not days or weeks, the RTA says that if the notice is hand delivered the time starts counting immediately. That means, if an agent or owner hand delivers an entry notice to your letterbox after you’ve picked up your mail on that day, you might not see it until a short time before the etnry is due. That seems unreasonable to us. In these circumstances 48 hours might be more reasonable.

In early November, the Residential Tenancies Authority announced a ‘targeted’ review of Queensland tenancy laws and released a public Discussion Paper to which responses are due by January 2.

As we noted soon after, we’re going to ask your views about  some of the topics in the Discussion paper.  This is our second question and it’s about bonds.

Do you think the maximum amount of bond should be increased?

The RTA’s Discussion paper canvasses the option of increasing the maximum amount of bond allowed to be taken from tenants in general tenancies (units, apartments, houses etc).  Currently the maximum bond is the equivalent of four weeks’ worth of rent.(unless the property rent is more than $700 per week and then it’s unlimited). The paper proposes allowing an additional week’s rent to be charged when the property has a pool, is fully furnished or if the tenant has pets.

What do you think?  Do you think that in some situations, agents or lessors should be able to charge an additional bond?  Or do you think that bonds are already enough to provide some financial protection? Do you think a ‘pet bond’ would help tenants in allowing them to have pets or have no effect?

To read the entire Discussion Paper, go to this link then click on ‘Discussion Paper’. Or read this section on page 7 & 8.

It’s not only Queensland which has a network of tenant advice services.  The Tenants’ Union of New South Wales recently posted an article on theiir blog site, The Brown Couch, about the value of tenant advice services in their state.

TUNSW cost the price of their services at around 3 cents per day per renting household.  The costings are quite simla here in Queensland.  Read the New South Wales article by clicking here.

Last week, the Residential Tenancies Authority announced a ‘targeted’ review of Queensland tenancy laws and released a public Discussion Paper to which responses are due by January 2.

Over the next couple of weeks, we’re going to ask your views about  some of the topics in the Discussion paper.  Our first question is about times for entry by the agent and or the lessor.

Currently, if an entry to a tenant’s property is to be made only by the lessor and/or the lessor’s agent and no third person (for example for a general inspection), a commencement time for the entry of up to two hours may be given.  The Discussion Paper canvasses extending this commencement time period to three hours.

What do you think?  Many tenants want to be on site when entries are made.  Is it reasonable for the start time for entries to allow a three hour window?

To read the entire Discussion Paper, go to this link then click on ‘Discussion Paper’..

Today was the first day tenant advice services didn’t get state funding.  That state funding is mainly from tenant bond interest but 31 October was the date of funding withdrawal.

The emergency Commonwealth money is on it’s way.  23 tenant advice services whose funding was cut by the state received funding contracts for the Commonwealth money late on Tuesday.  Services which were quick to turn around the signing of the contracts will have money very soon.

The most bizarre thing is that because  the Commonwealth decided to get the State to administer their emergency funds,the same bureaucrats are winding up the previous contracts and sending out the new ones.

Today is the last day that tenant bond interest will be provided by the Queensland government for tenant advice services in this state.  Three months’ notice of program discontinuation provided to the 23 services funded under the Tenant Advice and Advocacy Program ends today.  Tomorrow, tenant bond interest that would have been applied fo tenant advice services will apparently be diverted to social housing programs.

Good bye our dear friend.  Let’s hope we are reunited sooner rather than later.

Thanks to the Commonwealth government’s emergency funding tenant advice services will remain open until at least the end of June.  We now have a new battle ahead to regain the small proportion of tenant bond interest usually applied to our valuable tenant advice services  beyond that date.

There were many tenant advocates at today’s Private Rental Market Forum run by the Tenants’ Union of Queensland (good work TUQ!!).  The State Housing Minister, Bruce Flegg, opened the event and was very conciliatory but failed to give any commitment to funding for tenant advice services next year. We’re sure the advocates and the Save Tenant Services mob will continue to raise the issue.

October 30 – it’s the second last day of state government funding for tenant advice services in the Queensland. Withdrawal of funding (even though it comes mainly from tenant bond interest) occurs as of November 1. Thank goodness the Commonwealth government, through Housing Minister Brendan O’Connor, stepped in with emergency funding taking services for tenants through until June 30, 2013.

We know that we’ve been a little quiet lately but the focus has been around the funding

arrangements following on from the Commonwealth announcement of emergency funding until June 2013.  Whilst the Commonwealth funding is a welcome relief, there is still a long way to go to regain funding beyond June next year.

Focus on this next step will start soon and we’re asking for your ideas.  What do you think we need to do, what should the next stage of the campaign focus on and how can we work together to regain long term funding for tenant advisory services in Queensland?