The minimum housing standards

On 1 July 2024, South Australia’s rental laws were updated to place clearer responsibilities on landlords and their agents in relation to rental properties meeting the minimum housing standards, as well as greater protections and rights on renters when raising issues with landlords.

The key changes of the rental reforms that impact the minimum housing standards are:

  1. Introducing the obligation on landlords and agents for their rental properties to meet the minimum housing standards at the beginning of a tenancy under the Residential Tenancies Act 1995.
  2. Enabling a tenant during occupation the right to request the landlord / agent undertake urgent repairs to meet the minimum housing standards under the Residential Tenancies Act 1995.
  3. Enabling a tenant to serve a notice of termination under the Residential Tenancies Act 1995 if the property does not comply with the minimum housing standards.
  4. Restricting the grounds for landlords and agents to not renew a fixed term lease, which prevents landlords from taking retaliatory action due to disputes regarding minimum housing standards, and limits non-renewal to only when repairs or renovations cannot be carried out conveniently while the tenant remains in the property.
  5. Introducing new requirements around drug contamination and drug related conduct.
  6. Changing the definition of rooming houses to include residential premises in which 2 or more rooms are available, for valuable consideration, for residential occupation, and registration of ‘designated rooming houses’ with 5 or more rooms from 30 November 2024 with Consumer and Business Services.

For more information about the rental reforms, visit www.cbs.sa.gov.au/campaigns/rental reforms (external site)

For residential tenancy advice, visit www.syc.net.au/RentRight SA (external site).  RentRight SA’s housing advice and advocacy service is a free, independent service, helping people sustain their tenancies in private rental, community housing, rooming houses or public housing.

Further information about the minimum housing standards is located in our website, visit Minimum housing standards information page