Just Legal
The Rental Housing
Amendment Bill
New proposed Bill can potentially
criminalise landlords
T
he new Rental Housing Amendment Bill
will be a major game changer for both
tenants and landlords.
One of the major changes in the Bill is that
all lease agreements will have to be in writing,
which the advocates of the Bill say will assist in
protecting both par ties. It will fall to the landlord
to ensure that a written agreement is drawn up.
The previous Rental Housing Act of 1999,
however, did not stipulate that the lease
agreement had to be a written document,
unless the tenant requested it and many lease
agreements were entered into with only a verbal
agreement between the two par ties.
One of the principle objectives of the Bill
“It will fall to the landlord
to ensure that a written
agreement is drawn up. ”
is to do away with tenants being asked to pay
additional costs that have not been previously
stipulated within the rental agreement. The Bill
will require that a tenant is liable for the amount
of the rental, along with any other additional
charges agreed upon in the lease by the due
date. For costs other than those agreed upon,
the tenant is only liable upon proof of factual
expenditure by the landlord.
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Issue 7 2015
As per the proposal, tenants will have the right
to request a written receipt for all payments
received by the landlord from the tenant. The
receipts must include a date, an address with
street number or description of the proper ty
they relate to, as well as an indication of whether
the payment was for rental, arrears, deposit and
a specific period for which payment was made.
Additionally, tenants will entitled to request
that the landlord provide them with written proof
for the interest earned on the paid deposit. The
landlord will be required to invest the received
deposit amount in an interest-bearing account
with a financial institution - provided that the rate
applicable to such account may not be less than
the rate applicable to a savings account. This is
provided there is no outstanding monies owed
to the landlord upon the expiration of the lease
(the deposit without deduction), along with any
interest earned, will be paid back to the tenant
within a seven-day period.
In the instance where the tenant has caused
damage to the proper ty or lost keys, the landlord
may deduct the necessary reasonable costs from
the deposit before it is paid over to the tenant.
According to the Bill, landlords are required to
provide the tenant with a proper ty in a habitable
condition, maintaining the existing structure of
the proper ty and facilitate the provision of basic
services. Landlords will need to ensure that their
rental proper ty meets the required standards
and is a structurally sound dwelling.
Just Property Magazine