What are the Minimum Standards for Rentals in Victoria?

Jay Bloor Posted on 11 Nov 2023

Victoria’s rental minimum standards cover basic requirements relating to a renter’s amenity, safety and privacy. Now more than ever, rental providers need to be accountable for and on top of issues relating to their property. This is to protect the renter by providing them with a safe place to live that is in good repair—a fundamental human right.

Therefore, it is imperative to be upfront and honest with your renters (and property manager) and ensure repairs are completed and documentation maintained to avoid problems down the track.

What are the minimum standards of rental compliance?

The minimum standards are divided into 14 categories. All rental properties must meet the standards for each category.

Bathroom

A rental property’s bathroom must have a washbasin and a shower or bath, and be connected to a reasonable supply of hot and cold water.

Showers must have a shower head with a 3-star water efficiency rating. If one cannot be installed, for example because of the property’s age, then a shower head with a 1- or 2-star rating is acceptable.

Electrical safety

The electrical safety rental minimum standard commenced on 29 March 2023.

Rental properties must have modern switchboards, with circuit breakers and electrical safety switches installed. Electrical safety switches are known as residual current devices (RCD, RCCB or RCBO).

Rental providers are responsible for engaging an electrician to ensure their rental property complies with the electrical safety standard.

If your rented premises has a circuit breaker type switchboard

The rented premises can meet the minimum standard if the electrician adds circuit breaker components to the power outlets and lighting circuits, without the need to add to or modify the circuit protection to other circuits (such as fixed cooking equipment, hot water units or air-conditioning circuits).

The circuit breaker components include:

an overcurrent circuit breaker and a residual current device (RCDs), or
an overcurrent circuit breaker and a residual current operated circuit-breakers without integral overcurrent protection (RCCBs), or
a residual current operated circuit-breaker with integral overcurrent protection (RCBOs).

If your rented premises does not have a circuit breaker type switchboard

Some properties do not have circuit breaker type switchboards, such as older properties that have a panel and fuse board or a federal fuse board.

With these older fuse boards, an electrician may not have the option of adding circuit breaker components (such as RCDs, RCCBs or RCBOs) and may have to replace the entire switchboard to ensure the rented premises meets the electrical safety standard. In this case, there must be circuit breaker components for all the circuits at the switchboard, including fixed cooking equipment, hot water units and air-conditioning circuits.

Heating

All rental properties must have a fixed heater (not portable) in good working order in the main living area.

For rental agreements entered into from 29 March 2023, this must be an energy efficient fixed heater in the main living area. If there is an existing fixed heater that is not energy efficient, the rental provider must upgrade it.

An energy efficient fixed heater must be one of the following:

a non-ducted air conditioner or heat pump with a 2 star or above energy rating
a gas space heater with a 2 star or above energy rating
a ducted heating or hydronic heating system with an outlet in the main living area
a domestic solid fuel burning appliance, such as a fireplace or wood burning stove.

Apartments

In some apartment blocks it may not be practical to install an energy efficient heater - because of owner’s corporation rules, or costs, for example.

It may be unreasonable to install an energy efficient heater if:

the cost of installation would be significantly higher than the average cost in a domestic apartment building
owners corporation rules prohibit it
compliance with any other Act or local law makes the installation cost prohibitive.

If this is the case, the rental provider must still install a fixed heater in the main living area.

If a rental provider considers that it would be unreasonable to install an energy efficient fixed heater, they should:

have evidence to show that it is unreasonable, and
let the renter know before they enter into a rental agreement.

You can download our guide for more information: Minimum rental standards for heating - Residential Tenancies Regulations 2021.

Kitchen

The property must have a kitchen with:

a dedicated cooking and food preparation area
a sink in good working order connected to a reasonable supply of hot and cold water
a stove top in good working order that has two or more burners.

If there is an oven, it needs to be in good working order.

These requirements do not apply if the property is listed in the heritage register at Heritage Council Victoria and has an approved exemption from the standard.

Laundry

If there is a laundry on the property, it must be connected to a reasonable supply of hot and cold water.

Lighting

Inside rooms, corridors and hallways must have access to light to make the areas functional. During the day, natural light can include light borrowed from an adjoining room. At night, renters should have access to artificial light.

These requirements do not apply if the property is registered under the Heritage Act 2017 and has an approved exemption from the standard.

Locks

The property’s external entry doors must have functioning dead latches or be fitted with locks that can be unlocked with a key from the outside but can be unlocked without one from the inside.

The only cases where a dead latch doesn’t have to be fitted to a door are when:

a door cannot be secured with a dead latch - for example, because of its position
it is a screen door in the same door frame as an external door
a different type of lock or device is required under another Act or law
the door is not accessible because there is another type of security barrier. For example, a locked door to an apartment building, or a locked gate
the property is registered under the Heritage Act 2017 and has an approved exemption from the standard.