Whether you rent a property in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane or Perth your rental responsibilities are going to be similar with regards to how you should look after your rental property.
Your rental responsibilities and understanding fair wear and tear
As a tenant you are not responsible for fair wear and tear to a rental property. Fair wear and tear means the deterioration that occurs over time with the use of the premises even though the premises receive reasonable care and maintenance. Such deterioration could be caused by exposure, time or just by ordinary use. The tenant is only liable for negligent, irresponsible or intentional actions that cause damage to the premises. These examples may help to explain the difference.
| Fair wear and tear | Damage |
| Faded curtains or frayed cords | Missing curtains or torn by the tenant’s cat |
| Furniture indentations and traffic marks on the carpet | Stains or burn marks on the carpet |
| Scuffed wooden floors | Badly scratched or gouged wooden floors |
| Faded, chipped or cracked paint | Unapproved or poor quality paint job |
| Worn kitchen bench top | Burns or cuts in bench top |
| Loose hinges or handles on doors or windows and worn sliding tracks | Broken glass from one of the tenant’s children hitting a ball through the window |
| Cracks in the walls from movement | Holes in walls left by tenant removing picture hooks or shelves they had installed |
| Water stain on carpet from rain through leaking roof or bad plumbing | Water stain on carpet caused by overflowing bath or indoor pot plants |
| Paint worn off wall near light switch | damage to paint caused by removing posters stuck with blu tack or sticky tape |
Your rental responsibilities and informing the agent
My number one tip is to ensure that you inform the realestate agent immediately if something has happened with regards to any maintenance issues at your rental property. Make sure you do this in writing and keep a copy of this as evidence. Taking photos is also a good idea as well.
We recently had a client vacate a rental property and the garage door had a dint in it. The door actually had a very slight dint in it when they first moved in, however after 3 years of use it had deteriorated and had got much worse. However, the tenants had not informed the realestate agent about this ongoing deterioration. To make things worse, when the realestate agent come to do the property inspection it was after hours and often dark, so she did not pick up on it. So when the tenants vacated the rental property and the realestate agent did the final condition report it was identified then. As the realestate agent had no proof of the ongoing issue and deterioration, the tenants were responsible for having it repaired. So my key tip is to document any issues and keep the realestate agent informed.
If you need assistance finding a rental property, then contact Australian Relocation Managers. We are experts at helping people to find rental properties in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Perth. Our local relocation agents have a wealth of industry experience and knowledge.