With Commissioner for Consumer Protection David Hillyard

It’s been more than 10 years since Western Australia’s tenancy laws were reviewed and times have certainly changed. So, Consumer Protection is set to review the Residential Tenancies Act 1987 and we are going to want to hear from you.

The high cost of owning a home means more people in WA are renting. Meanwhile people with investment properties might not want to sell in the current market, resulting in landlords seeking tenants who are looking for long-term stable tenancy arrangements.

We want our tenancy laws to not only meet today’s needs but also those of the future.

Although a rental property belongs to a landlord, to a tenant it is their home and we need to strike a balance between long-term investment returns and stable tenancy arrangements and what should this look like from both sides of the equation.

In the coming months we will publish a discussion paper to ask for your experiences and feedback on key issues including: 

• improving security of tenure for tenants;
• should termination of a tenancy require reasons and do away with “no grounds” terminations; 
• disclosure of important information before a tenancy begins;
• what are the minimum standards for rental properties;
• tenant liability for damage – what is fair wear and tear;
• bonds, changes in rent and other charges;
• making a rental property a home, including the right to keep pets and make minor modifications; and 
• regulation of boarding, lodging and room-by-room rentals.

Gathering your thoughts on the WA tenancy laws will help us to make lasting improvements that work for both tenants and landlords.

We'll post updates, including the discussion paper, on the Consumer Protection website - if you use the short link commerce.wa.gov.au/rentingtools you can easily find the dedicated ‘tenancy laws review’ web page, to save to your favourites.

If you prefer to receive updates to your inbox you can subscribe to one of our newsletters to be notified when the review is open for community feedback. Head to our website www.consumerprotection.wa.gov.au and search for either “tenant e-bulletin” or “landlord e-bulletin”.