Renting your own place or living with other people can be exciting. However, it can also come with responsibility. This page explains your rights and responsibilities if you are renting.
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The main rights you have as a renter are:
The main responsibilities you have as a renter are:
If you miss a rent payment or get behind in rent, do not ignore this. Get in touch with your landlord as soon as possible to try and arrange a new date to pay or to negotiate a payment plan. If you get more than 14 days behind on rent, your landlord can give you a notice to vacate.19 If this happens, it is very important to get some legal advice as soon as you can.
Your lease agreement may also include additional responsibilities, so make sure to check this.
Rent can be expensive. If you are behind in rent, sometimes there are support services that can help with rental arrears such as via SA Housing Trust- Private Rental Assistance | SA Housing Trust. Search Ask Izzy for any other organisations that can provide rent help.
Landlords can increase your rent in certain circumstances if they follow the rules.
If you are on a periodic or fixed-term lease, a landlord can only increase your rent once every 12 months. However, the law also says that if you are on a fixed-term agreement, the landlord cannot increase the rent at all unless the written agreement includes a term about this.
If the landlord wants to increase your rent, they have to give you 60 days notice in writing.
If you think a rent increase is excessive, you can apply to the South Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (SACAT) for a review within 90 days after the notice of increased rent is given.
We strongly recommend getting legal help if you need help with making an application to SACAT.
Before you apply to SACAT, it’s a good idea to try and negotiate with your landlord first. Do some research into the value of similar rental properties online to work out what you think is a reasonable rent increase (if any).
It’s important to tell your landlord in writing if there is damage to the property or if you need repairs as soon as you become aware of them.
For urgent repairs, landlords should respond to them immediately. Urgent repairs may include things like a serious gas leak or dangerous electrical fault that makes the property unsafe.
If the landlord does not take reasonable action to carry out the necessary repairs, you can arrange to have the repairs fixed yourself. The landlord must reimburse you the reasonable costs of repair.
Non-urgent repairs are necessary fixes that don’t need immediate attention but are still important for maintaining the property in good condition. For example, a leaking tap or broken bathroom tiles.
You must give your rental provider notice that non-urgent repairs are needed. Your rental provider should take steps to have the defect repaired.
Consumer and Business Services has forms that you can use to submit a notice of repairs to your landlord. You can find them here.
If you caused the damage to the property or were at fault, you must replace or compensate the landlord for the reasonable costs to rectify this.
Yes, you can keep a pet if your landlord has agreed in writing or SACAT has made an order giving you permission to keep a pet. Landlords can only refuse requests for a pet in certain circumstances. However, some pets (like assistance or therapeutic animals) don’t need approval.
If you have asked your landlord to keep a pet and they do not respond in writing within 14 days, this is also treated like they have said yes to your pet (but if you are unsure, it’s a good idea to check).
If you have a pet at the property, you still need to make sure that you are following your responsibilities not to damage the property, to keep the property reasonable clean and to not disturb your neighbours (for example, with excessive barking).
If you want to ask your landlord if you can keep a pet, you must use the form on the Consumer and Business Services website and give it to your landlord. You can access it here: Application-for-approval-to-keep-a-pet-on-rental-premises.pdf
Your landlord cannot unreasonably refuse to let you keep a pet at a property. This means they need to have reasonable and legitimate reasons for saying no.
If your landlord wants to say no to you keeping a pet, they must set out in writing the grounds for refusal and why they think such grounds apply. You and your landlord may try to negotiate certain conditions rather than going to SACAT. Otherwise, you have the option to apply to the Tribunal for an order.
Your landlord may conduct an inspection no more than 4 times a year, unless SACAT orders otherwise.
Your landlord must give you written notice if they plan to inspect or enter the property. There are different rules about how much notice a landlord must give, but in general:
Your landlord can only enter the property between 8am and 8pm on any day (other than a Sunday or public holiday), unless you agree otherwise. It may be an offence for a landlord to enter a property if they do not follow these requirements.
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