It’s good if tenants and their advocates are familiar with the basic rights and obligations of tenants and landlords. There is a better chance of a stress-free tenancy if landlords and tenants know what is expected of them!
A helpful resource is the Tenancy Services Renting and You booklet, which sets out tenants’ and landlords’ rights and responsibilities. The Residential Tenancies Act also lists the tenant’s main responsibilities and the landlord’s main responsibilities.
Quick tip
It’s important to remember that tenants' obligations are just as important as their rights. It will be difficult to ask for their rights to be respected if they haven’t fulfilled their obligations, eg, a tenant can tell the landlord that they need to do repairs, but they won’t be in a very strong position if they are behind in paying rent.
Following is an outline of some of the key rights and obligations of tenants and landlords. For details, see other topics within the Rights and Obligations section.
Key rights and obligations of the tenant
Tenants have the right to:
- Vacant possession (ie, an empty place) at the beginning of the tenancy.
- Quiet enjoyment (ie, reasonable peace, privacy and comfort) during the tenancy.
Tenants must:
- Pay rent on time.
- Keep the place reasonably clean and tidy and advise the landlord when repairs are needed.
- Pay for their own outgoings (eg, electricity, gas, internet and metered water).
Tenants must not:
- Stop paying rent, even if the landlord hasn’t done repairs.
- Intentionally damage the premises.
- Disturb the quiet enjoyment of the neighbours or the landlord’s other tenants.
- Make any alterations to the property without the landlord’s consent
- Breach any special conditions of the tenancy agreement, eg, “no pets”, or “no more than 6 occupants”.
Key rights and obligations of the landlord
Landlords must:
- Provide a property that is reasonably clean and in a reasonable state of repair.
- Maintain the property in a reasonable state of repair having regard to the age and character of the premises.
- Maintain the garden and shared areas / facilities.
- Provide a property that is safe and healthy and meets building standards, and is not an unlawful premises.
- Keep accurate records.
- Make sure the house is not mouldy, damp or unfit to live in.
- Give the correct notice when they want to visit or or inspect the property, and not inspect more than is legally allowed.
- Respect the tenant’s quiet enjoyment, and ensure their other tenants don’t disturb them.
- Pay for their own outgoings (eg, rates, general water charges, insurance).
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