Residential Tenancies (Rent Control) Amendment Bill 2022 (SA)

South Australia Residential Tenancies (Rent Control) Amendment Bill 2022 A Bill For An Act to amend the Residential Tenancies Act 1995.

Contents Part 1—Preliminary 1 Short title 2 Commencement Part 2—Amendment of Residential Tenancies Act 1995 3 Insertion of section 51A 51A Landlord must not advertise, offer or accept rent greater than indexed rent amount 4 Insertion of section 52A 52A Meaning of indexed rent amount for a residential tenancy agreement 5 Amendment of section 55—Variation of rent 6 Insertion of section 55A 55A Landlord may apply to Tribunal for rent increase greater than indexed rent amount 7 Insertion of section 103A 103A Meaning of indexed rent amount for a rooming house agreement 8 Insertion of section 104A 104A Proprietor must not advertise, offer or accept rent greater than indexed rent amount 9 Amendment of section 105I—Rent increases 10 Insertion of section 105IA 105IA Proprietor may apply to Tribunal for rent increase greater than indexed rent amount

The Parliament of South Australia enacts as follows: Part 1—Preliminary 1—Short title This Act may be cited as the Residential Tenancies (Rent Control) Amendment Act 2022. 2—Commencement This Act comes into operation 4 months after the day on which it is assented to by the Governor.

Part 2—Amendment of Residential Tenancies Act 1995 3—Insertion of section 51A After section 51 insert: 51A—Landlord must not advertise, offer or accept rent greater than indexed rent amount (1) This section applies to premises where a residential tenancy agreement for the premises has previously been entered into, whether or not the landlord is the same person as the landlord for the prior residential tenancy agreement. (2) A landlord or landlord's agent must not— (a) invite a person to enter into a residential tenancy agreement (including by advertisement) if the amount of rent payable under the proposed agreement is greater than the indexed rent amount for the proposed agreement; or (b) enter into a residential tenancy agreement for an amount of rent greater than the indexed rent amount for the agreement. Maximum penalty: $5 000 (3) However, subsection (2) does not apply where— (a) additional services, facilities or goods are to be provided to the prospective tenant for the tenancy under the new agreement; or (b) the amenity or standard of the premises has increased substantially since the last rent increase, or if the rent has not been increased, since the rent was fixed; or (c) the amount of statutory charges payable by the landlord for a year for the premises has increased by more than 20% since the last rent increase, or if the rent has not been increased, since the rent was fixed. (4) For the purposes of this section, the indexed rent amount for a residential tenancy agreement, or proposed residential tenancy agreement, is the amount determined as follows: