As an owner of a rental property there is certain information regarding your interests and obligations that you should be aware of.

Land Tax

Land Tax in the ACT applies to properties that are not the property owners principal place of residence. This includes both rented properties and those which are vacant, properties owned as a trustee, and rented dwellings on the same property as your home (such as a flat or a granny flat).

You must notify the Commissioner for ACT Revenue if you own a property that is or becomes liable for land tax. Penalties may apply if you do not notify the Commissioner that you are liable for land tax.

Some residential properties are exempt from land tax.

Smoke Alarms

It is compulsory that all rented properties in the ACT must comply with the amended Residential Tenancies Act 1997 in relation to smoke alarm compliance. In addition to this legislation, properties must also comply with the Building Code of Australia 3.7.2. The owner or lessor of a property must install a working smoke alarm(s) that complies with AS3786.

A lessor of a property cannot enter into a tenancy agreement unless smoke alarms are correctly installed within the property.

  • Smoke alarms may be hard-wired or battery operated.
  • Lessors cannot enter into tenancy agreements unless smoke alarms are installed within the property.
  • Smoke alarms must comply with the Building Code of Australia.
  • If homes are built after 1994, they must have at least 240 volt hard-wired alarms.
  • Homes built prior to 1994 can have 9 volt battery-operated alarms.
  • As per the Building Code of Australia, homes must have at least one smoke alarm per floor, and one in each space between bedrooms.

Landlord Insurance

Landlord insurance is specifically designed to protect your investment property from loss or damage caused by insured events and loss of rental income. Insured events can include things like fire, storm and flood, and depending on the insurer, can include damage or theft by tenants – or these may be optional. We recommend that all property owners have appropriate insurance cover when renting a property.

Please contact one of our expert property managers for further information. You deserve the Luxe experience!

Disclaimer

Information contained within and/or provided by this site is purely general real estate information in nature and is not intended to be – nor should be taken to be – legal advice or accounting/financial advice of any kind. You should always seek appropriate legal and accounting/financial advice from a qualified practitioner. Any reliance on the information provided by this site is solely at your own risk.