Currently, for a landlord to be able to pass on water usage charges to a tenant, the residential property must be separately metered, the charges must not exceed the amount payable by the landlord (according to the water supplier’s bill or other evidence), and the property must meet water efficiency measures.

A rental property is only considered water efficient prior to 23 March 2020 if it meets the following standards:

As detailed in our post "What Are The Changes To Residential Tenancy Laws In NSW Which Start on 23 March 2020?", there are significant changes to NSW residential tenancy laws which come into effect from 23 March 2020.

One such change is that tenants will have improved clarity around their ability to make alterations, additions or renovations during their tenancy. 

After significant development, which we first wrote about back in November 2018, NSW Fair Trading has now announced changes to NSW residential tenancy laws which will commence from 23 March 2020.

The changes have been developed primarily to improve the experience of tenants when renting, and to ensure landlords can more effectively manage their properties. The updates aim to reduce disputes over repairs and maintenance and clarify the rights and responsibilities of both landlords and tenants. 

Each of the changes are covered below, including new smoke alarm obligations, allowance for tenants to make changes of a minor nature, changes to break fees and more as sourced from information published on the NSW Fair Trading website. The changes are effective from 23 March 2020. 

And so another year has flown by... it doesn't seem as long as 12 months ago that we compiled our 2018 gallery of images from our cameras and here we are wrapping similarly up for 2019!

We are spoiled by beautiful sights and scenes around Newcastle and Lake Macquarie. In concluding the year, we'd like to share with you some of the nicer images we've had the joy of capturing from our local area throughout 2019. 

If you've considered moving out of your family home and converting it to a rental property, but with a view to returning at some point in future, you may be familiar with the six-year capital gains tax rule. This important rule offers a significant tax benefit to investors in this circumstance, but there are only certain circumstances under which it will apply. 

Every week we are contacted to provide rental appraisals on investment properties. Over time we've come to realise there is a question many investors wonder but rarely ask - "Why did you estimate lower rent than the other agency?".

We realise of course that when we are contacted by an investor to provide a rental appraisal, we are usually one of many agencies contacted with the same request at the same time. Unfortunately, an agency's response to a rental appraisal is a very one-dimensional way of assessing the value the agency they will bring in managing the investment. This has been covered separately in the article The 3 Criteria Most People Use To Select A Property Manager (And Why They're Flawed).

You may have heard or even participated in the ABC's Australia Talks survey project. 

In July 2019, the Australia Talks National Survey asked 54,000 Australians to share their thoughts and feelings on almost 500 questions "about their lives and what keeps them up at night".

While the topics covered were varied, a summary has recently been compiled highlighting a selection of findings specific to the differences in points of view between landlords and tenants. 

Most interesting were the opinions of renters about the affordability of rentals and housing in Australia.