Evaluation of 2016 changes to the Residential Tenancies Act
We have completed the 2018 Monitoring Report which reports on progress with amendments to the Residential Tenancies Act made in June 2016.
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Monitoring of 2016 changes to the Residential Tenancies Act
The Residential Tenancies Act (RTA) was amended in June 2016 to improve tenancy law.
Changes to the Act introduced:
- requirements for smoke alarms and insulation in residential rental properties
- greater enforcement powers to address unsafe or unhealthy rental properties
- a new way to return abandoned rental properties to the market more quickly.
The Government asked us to evaluate the amendments by 2020. We are regularly monitoring progress to see how the intended outcomes are being achieved.
2018 Monitoring Report
We have now completed the 2018 Monitoring Report, which reports on progress to date. The monitoring report shows that:
- most landlords and more than half of tenants are aware of changes to insulation requirements
- an estimated 67 per cent of private rental properties are insulated to the required standard, an increase of 7 per cent since July 2016
- most tenants report their private rental property has at least one working smoke alarm.
Read the Residential Tenancies Act Amendments 2016: 2018 Monitoring Report [PDF, 1.3 MB]
This report draws on data from a number of sources, including two surveys we carried out in 2017 and 2018 to find out how aware landlords and tenants are of the new requirements. We also looked at what action had been taken to comply with them.
We used qualitative interviews with landlords to inform the survey design. This research also provided insight into how they are choosing to act as a result of the new requirements.
We will continue monitoring progress in 2019.
Related documents
RTA Awareness and Compliance Research 2018: (Gravitas) Qualitative report Gravitas [PDF, 999 KB]