After you move into a rental property

• Your rental provider can’t increase your rent more than once in any:
  • 6-month period, for agreements that started before 19 June 2019
  • 12-month period, for agreements starting on or after 19 June 2019.

• If you’re on a fixed-term rental agreement, your rental provider can’t raise your rent before it ends – unless your rental agreement allows it.

Find more information about rent increases.

What must be included in a Notice of rent increase

Your rental provider must use the Notice of rent increase form to tell you about rent increases at least 60 days before they are going to put the rent up. From November 2025, this will change to 90 days.

The rental provider must tell you:

• how much the rent will increase
• how they calculated the rent increase. If the rent is increased during a fixed term rental agreement, the rental agreement must indicate how the rent would be increased (consumer price index, rent index, percentage, or fixed dollar amount)
• what you can do if you think the increase is too high.

Important to know: If your rental provider doesn’t use the right form or doesn’t give proper notice, the notice isn’t valid.

Challenging a rent increase

You can ask Consumer Affairs Victoria to investigate if you believe the increased rent is too high.

This is a free service called a ‘rent assessment’ or a ‘rent increase investigation’. We’ll compare the increased rent to the rent for similar properties.

You must contact us within 30 days of receiving a rent increase notice.

Use the Request for rental assessment form to ask us for a rent assessment.

If you and the rental provider can’t agree on a new rent amount after we give you our rent assessment report, you can ask VCAT to set a maximum rent for up to 12 months. You have 30 days to apply to Rental Dispute Resolution Victoria (RDRV) or VCAT.

Find more information about challenging rent increases.

Your rental provider must make sure the property is in good condition and fit to live in. It doesn’t matter how much rent you are paying or how old the property is.

If there’s a problem with the property, you can ask your rental provider to fix it. If they don’t, contact us for information and advice.

Repairs are either ‘urgent’ or ‘non-urgent’. Rental providers must make urgent repairs immediately. Rental providers must make non-urgent repairs within 14 days of getting a written request.

Urgent repairs

Anything on this list is legally defined as an urgent repair:

• burst water service
• blocked or broken toilet system
• serious roof leak
• gas leak
• dangerous electrical fault
• flooding or serious flood damage
• serious storm or fire damage
• an essential service or appliance for hot water, water, cooking, heating, or laundering isn’t working
• the gas, electricity or water supply isn’t working
• a cooling appliance or service provided by the rental provider isn’t working
• the property doesn’t meet minimum standards
• a safety-related device, such as a smoke alarm or pool fence, isn’t working
• an appliance, fitting or fixture that isn’t working and causes a lot of water to be wasted
• any fault or damage in the property that makes it unsafe or insecure, including pests, mould or damp caused by or related to the building structure
• a serious problem with a lift or staircase.

Find more information about urgent rental repairs. 

What to do

Contact your rental provider or agent using their emergency phone number. Confirm your request in writing in case you need to prove you made the request.

Your rental provider or agent must make sure the repair is done immediately. If the rental provider or agent doesn’t respond to the request, you can organise and pay for the repair. You can only do this if the repair doesn’t cost more than $2500.

The rental provider must pay you back within 7 days. You can use the ‘Notice to rental provider of rented premises’ form to ask to be paid back. Fill in all necessary details, including the ‘Reason for notice – Payment for urgent repairs’ section.

If they don’t pay you back within 7 days, you can apply to Rental Dispute Resolution Victoria (RDRV) to resolve the dispute.

If you can’t afford to pay for the repair upfront, you can contact us using our online enquiries form.

You can use the ‘Notice to rental provider of rented premises’ form to request reimbursement for urgent repairs. You will need receipts/invoices and any other proof of repairs.

Non-urgent repairs

Non-urgent repairs include anything not listed as an ‘Urgent repair’.

What to do

Write to your rental provider telling them what needs to be repaired. You can use the ‘Notice to rental provider of rented premises’ form.

Your rental provider must respond within 14 days. If they don’t, contact us for information and advice.

Find more information about non-urgent rental repairs or call us on 1300 55 81 81.

As a renter, you’re generally responsible for:

• keeping the property reasonably clean
• minor maintenance tasks, such as changing standard light globes and keeping the garden tidy (unless your rental agreement states that the rental provider is responsible).

You can make certain changes to the property without the rental provider’s consent. For example, you can change the following things, as long as the property is not listed in the Victorian Heritage Register:

• installing picture hooks or shelf brackets on all surfaces except exposed brick or concrete walls
• curtains (but you can’t throw out the original curtains)
• a lock on a letterbox
• adding child safety gates or locks.

To make other changes, you’ll need written consent from the rental provider. For some types of modification, they must not unreasonably refuse consent.

Find the full list of modifications and more information.

If you want to keep a pet at your rental property, you must get your rental provider’s consent. Use the Pet request form.

If your rental provider wants to refuse consent for a pet, they must apply to VCAT within 14 days. VCAT will decide whether it is reasonable for the rental provider to refuse consent.

Find more information about pets. 

Your rental provider or agent can enter your rental property at a date and time that you’ve both agreed on. This must be made at least 7 days before they enter.

Otherwise, they must give you the appropriate written notice and a reason for entering the property. For example, to do a general inspection.

Important to know: You don’t have to agree to a verbal request from your rental provider or agent to enter the property. You can ask them to provide written notice and a reason for entering.

Unless agreed with you, the rental provider or agent can only enter between 8 am and 6 pm, and not on public holidays. There are limits on how often they can enter, and for how long.

If the rental provider or agent has given you the appropriate written notice, or agreed with you on an entry date and time:

• you must let them into the property, if you’re at home
• they can enter if you’re not at home.

Find more information about rental providers inspecting or entering rental properties.

You have a right to privacy, peace and quiet. This also means that you must not unnecessarily disturb your neighbours or others around your rental property.

The rental provider may issue a notice to vacate, effective immediately, if you or your visitor endangers the safety of neighbours, the rental provider or their agent, contractors or an employee of the rental provider.

The rental provider can also give a renter a 14-day ‘Notice to vacate’ for serious threats or intimidation.

If a rental agreement is affected by family violence, renters have specific rights. 

If a person is experiencing family violence, they can apply to VCAT to end the rental agreement early or start a new agreement in the same property that doesn’t include the person being violent (the respondent).

VCAT must hear your application within 3 business days or no later than the next available day after the end of the 3 business days.

Find more information on family violence when renting.