New rules are making renting fairer and more secure for Victorians. From 25 November 2025, significant changes to rental laws will start.
If you're renting, you'll have stronger rights and protections, greater security over your lease and finances and improved safety in your home. If you're a rental provider, you'll have clearer obligations and better processes for managing your property.
The new rules balance the relationship between renters and providers, giving everyone more certainty about their rights and responsibilities.
Timing of rental reforms
| Date in effect |
Change |
Details of change |
25 November 2025
|
Ban on no fault evictions
|
Rental providers cannot issue a renter with a notice to vacate without a valid reason, even at the end of a fixed-term agreement.
When a fixed-term agreement ends, it will automatically become a periodic (month-by-month) lease unless a rental provider and renter agree to enter into a new fixed-term agreement or the rental provider issues a notice to vacate for a valid reason.
Other existing reasons for a notice to vacate, such as the sale of the property, renovation, or a breach of the agreement like failure to pay rent, are still valid.
|
| Extension of notice periods for rent increases and certain notices to vacate |
Rental providers must give a renter 90 days' notice of a rent increase and certain notices to vacate. This gives renters more time to budget or move. Shorter notice periods still apply when a renter is at fault.
|
Ban on all types of rental bidding
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Agents and rental providers will be banned from accepting offers made by a renter to pay rent higher than the advertised amount or to pay more than one month’s rent in advance.
This builds on the existing law that bans rental providers from requiring more than one month’s rent in advance or from soliciting or encouraging higher offers of rent.
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Rental properties must meet minimum standards when advertised
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Rental providers must ensure their property meets the minimum standards at the time the property is advertised, not just before a renter moves in. It will be an offence for a rental provider or their agent to advertise a property that does not meet the minimum standards.
Note: From 1 December, rental providers will also need to ensure that all internal windows coverings have secured cords. This is a new minimum standard. More information is below.
|
| Mandatory annual smoke alarm checks for all rental properties |
Rental providers and their agents must arrange annual smoke alarm safety checks for all rental agreements, whether they commenced before, on or after 29 March 2021. |
| New rules to protect renters’ personal information |
Rental providers and their agents must protect renters’ personal information from misuse. They will need to follow rules around destruction and de-identification when handling information provided through rental applications. It will be an offence to disclose information without consent. |
| Date in effect |
Change |
Details of change |
1 December 2025
|
New rental minimum standard – blind cord safety anchors
|
All rental properties must have secured cords on internal window coverings to prevent them forming loops.
|
| New rooming house minimum standard – heating standard for rooming houses |
All rooming house providers must install a fixed heater secured to a wall, floor or ceiling for each resident’s room.
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The start dates for other upcoming renting reforms are still being considered. More information on supporting regulations and timeframes will be available shortly.
| Date in effect |
Change |
Details of change |
To be advised
|
New standard form for rental applications
|
Rental providers and their agents must use the prescribed form for rental agreement applications. This change will make it quicker and easier for a renter to apply for a property.
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| Rules for information that can be asked of rental applicants |
Rental providers will need to follow clear rules for the type of information they can ask from renters. This will be limited to what’s necessary to assess an applicant’s suitability as a renter and to confirm their identity and capacity to pay the advertised rent.
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Ban on third party fees for applications and rent payment
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Only rental providers, agents and banks will be able to charge a renter fees for applications or rent payments.
Third party businesses will be banned from charging these fees. While rental providers and agents may still use third party platforms, it will be an offence for the businesses that run these to charge a renter fees.
|
| Additional considerations for rent increase investigations |
The Director of Consumer Affairs Victoria and the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT), including Rental Dispute Resolution Victoria, will be able to consider additional factors when determining whether a proposed rent increase is excessive. |
Background
Most of these changes were made through the Consumer and Planning Legislation Amendment (Housing Statement Reform) Act 2025, which passed the Victorian Parliament in March 2025.
The new renting minimum standards were made through the Residential Tenancies Amendment (Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards) Regulations 2025.
The first new standards apply from 1 December 2026, with more changes to come into effect in 2027. Read the Minimum Energy Efficiency and Safety Standards.
Further reforms to come
Further reforms to the rental laws have been proposed. They have been introduced to Victorian Parliament through the Consumer Legislation Amendment Bill 2025. This page will be updated as required.
More information