GoAustralia

For prospective Australian immigrants (or emigrants – depending on your perspective)

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Renting (house or unit/apartment)

Unlike, for example, in Germany it is more common in Australia that you buy houses or apartments. Renting is more common for a transitional period. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics there are about 70% owners and 30% tenants (in Germany the proportion of tenants is almost twice as high – 43% owners and 57% tenants). That may have something to do with the facts that

  • renting in Australia is in relation to buying/owning relatively expensive
  • one usually gets only temporary tenancy agreements (eg 1/2 year or 1 year) and
  • you as a tenant have substantially fewer rights than e.g. in most countries of Europe. For example, you have to ask the landlord first if you want to change anything of the hourse/unit, such as painting or driving nails into a wall.

Furthermore I have learned that tenants generally do not have a good reputation and the landlords often do not take much care of their property.

By the way, if you’d rather buy, so you should keep in mind that an “additional foreign acquirer duty” of 7% (in Queensland, where the transaction’s liability for transfer duty arises on or after 1 July 2018) is payable if you are not a permanent resident.

Finding the right home

Before you start to search for apartments or houses, it is highly advisable first to be on the lookout for the areas where you could imagine to live. Sometimes doing that you come across an “open house”, which is a public inspection time of a house/apartment.

Almost all houses/apartments are rented through real estate agents. It is very uncommon to negotiate directly with the owner or even contact him. But the real estate agents are often not especially helpful to potential tenants. If you do not have a big budget, which might attract the attention of the real estate agent, he will maybe only give a you list of his rental properties and a map of the area.

Almost all objects to rent are offered both on the respective website of the authorized agent and on www.realestate.com.au.

There you can see find the price, number of rooms, location and other characteristics. Also there are usually more or less meaningful images of the apartment/house. Rarely does one find drawings of the floor plan or information on age of the property or the insulation of walls/windows (that’s in Australia anyway not a big issue). If you have made yourself already familiar with the
residential area you can now make a first selection according to the information provided here.

When selecting the number of rooms, one should note that in Australia there is usually no cellar or a corresponding storage area. The bedrooms are often so small that just the bed fits in and possibly a small chest of drawers (since a built-in wardrobe is almost always already installed in the bedroom)

If you find a property online which corresponds to your needs, there is no way around to look at the object in person. Because on the Internet you can almost never find the real size of the apartment (eg in m²). And if there is such an information, it is not uncommon that it includes everything (garden, terrace, garage, etc. etc.).

In most cases the properties are described only by the number of bedrooms and bathrooms “Three spacious bedrooms”,
at which it is in Australia very popular to have preferably many bathrooms. Quite often there is a bathroom per bedroom. All rooms except the living room and the bathrooms are usually referred to as a bedroom (exceptions such as “laundry” prove the rule). However, how big these bedrooms are you will only know when you have visited the apartment. An apartment with 3 Bedrooms (i.e. a four-room apartment) may have 70 m² or 120 m².

A fitted kitchen with stove, oven and dishwasher is also normally already present. Curiously you always have to have your own refrigerator.

An individual appointment for an inspection is agreed either online or by phone (in Australia very much on the phone) or there is a general fixed appointment for all interested parties, which is then usually announce on the website.

The Inspection

From our own painful experience we recommend to pay attention to the following things when inspecting the property (if necessary you should inspect the proberty a second time before signing the tenancy agreement if there is not enough time the first time):

  1. Do not assume that everything is working or that everything really fits the description on the internet!! Check yourself!
  2. Can all windows and doors open easily and close? Do all windows lock?
  3. Does the air conditioning work (and the heating if apliccable)?
  4. A telephone or television outlet does not necessarily mean that there is also a telephone and TV connection. Ask about the type of connection (cable, ADSL, antennas, etc.). Let them explicitly confirm.
  5. Do all water faucets operate well. Is none leaking?
  6. Condition of the oven, dishwasher and stove. Everything works?
  7. Is the niche in the kitchen for you own existing refrigerator big enough? Measure.
  8. Ask for possible problems (eg moisture or leaks).
  9. Ask why the previous tenant moved out and when. Am property vacant for a long time can be an indication of a problem.
  10. Find out about the general condition of the object and the adjoining land. If there is a large function room next door or a piece of land with a lot of cars and a large shed, it is reasonable to expect noise and perhaps you should think again.
  11. What are the additional/running costs?

According to a study by Choice (a consumer organization in the way of Stiftung Warentest) and the National Association of Tenant Organizations are the 10 most common problems for tenants

  1. Pests (cockroaches, moths, ants, etc.)
  2. Doors or windows that do not close properly
  3. Peeling paint or tile
  4. Leaks or flooding
  5. Mold which is difficult to remove or re-emerges
  6. No screens on windows
  7. Difficulties to keep the rooms warm
  8. Difficulties to keep the rooms cool
  9. Locks that do not work
  10. An important device that is not working

Applying for a property

If you like a property after having inspected the it and after clarification of open questions, you must complete an application form and give detailed information about e.g. your income/assets etc.. Make sure that all requested information is provided and is correct. Possibly you must provide proof such as:

  • Proof of identity (passport / driving license)
  • Proof of income, Bank statements for the last three months
  • References – one of the most important parts of the application. This includes your current employer and possibly a former landlord. Coming from abroad you should bring – if possible – already  a reference in English by the previous landlord and employer

In some cases, you will be asked to submit a deposit with the application. This will be returned if you do not conclude a tenancy agreement. Once the references were checked by the real-estate agent, the entire application will be transferred to the owner of the property for final approval.

Tenancy agreement

It may sound trite, but read the agreement and possible attachments carefully before signing it. If you find something that you do not like or do not quite understand, clarify it with the real-estate agent or have it reviewed by a third party who is familiar with it.

Here are a some tips regarding the tenancy agreement:

  1. The rent is paid on a weekly basis.
  2. The bond corresponds generally to four weeks rent. The bond in the state of Victoria is not limited, if the weekly rent is more than AUD 350. The same applies in Queensland, when the weekly rent is more than AUD 700.
  3. You must disclose your income and provide evidence possibly by a bank statement.
  4. Get all the important points (e.g. on the conditon of the apartment) confirmed in writing and keep all correspondence carefully.
  5. Tenants must receive an entry conditon report from the real-estate agent broker when they move in. Check this report carefully and note in the report any damage to the property that was not listed. Note the deadlines, usually yor have only 3 days! Take photos of any existing damage, and the general condition of the property when you move in.
  6. Tenants may be terminated without notice and the usual notice periods are different throughout Australia.
  7. Although the landlord or real-estate agent are allowed to enter the premises more frequently as under e.g. German law, the reasons are still limited to e.g. an approved inspection, to carry out an inspection of repairs or if there is reasonable suspicion that you have violated your tenenancy agreement.
  8. Most states and territories prohibit rent increases during a temporary lease. An exception is if the rental agreement contains an exception clause. In all states and territories rent increases must be in writing.