Victorian Rental Law Changes 2025: What Property Managers Need to Know and Do Now

Victoria's residential tenancy landscape changed substantially on 25 November 2025 when the Consumer and Planning Legislation Amendment (Housing Statement Reform) Act 2025 took effect. This legislation amended the Residential Tenancies Act 1997 (Vic) across several fronts simultaneously — abolishing no-fault evictions, extending notice periods, introducing new obligations around smoke alarm compliance, strengthening the requirement for properties to meet minimum standards before being advertised, and mandating a prescribed rental application form.

For property managers, these are not minor paperwork adjustments. The reforms change how you can end tenancies, how much lead time you must give renters for rent increases and notices to vacate, what you must verify before listing a property, and what annual safety compliance obligations now fall on rental providers. There are also follow-on changes taking effect on 1 December 2025 and further reforms rolling out through 2026 and 2027.

This guide covers the changes that most directly affect day-to-day property management practice, in the order in which they matter most operationally. It is written as a practical compliance guide, not a legal opinion. For complex situations or specific legal advice, contact Consumer Affairs Victoria at consumer.vic.gov.au or consult a practitioner familiar with Victorian tenancy law.

All references are to the Residential Tenancies Act 1997 (Vic) as amended by the Housing Statement Reform Act 2025, with guidance current as of June 2026.

The most significant structural change in the November 2025 reforms is the abolition of no-fault end-of-fixed-term evictions. Previously, rental providers could issue a Notice to Vacate to a renter simply because their fixed-term agreement was due to end. Sections 91ZZD and 91ZZDA of the Residential Tenancies Act 1997 (Vic) — which provided the statutory grounds for these notices — have been repealed. A rental provider can no longer end a tenancy purely on the basis that a fixed-term agreement is expiring.

Transitional provisions protect notices that were validly issued before 25 November 2025 under the former sections — if such a notice was given before that date, it remains in force and the renter must still comply with its terms. But from 25 November 2025 onwards, no new notices can be issued on these grounds.

This does not mean rental providers have lost the ability to end tenancies. It means every Notice to Vacate must now cite a specific, allowable ground under the Act. The allowable grounds for issuing a no-fault Notice to Vacate include: the rental provider intends to carry out significant repairs or renovations that cannot be done while the property is occupied (section 91ZX); the premises are to be demolished (section 91ZY); the rental provider or a member of their immediate family intends to occupy the premises (section 91ZZA); or the premises have been sold and the purchaser requires vacant possession (section 91ZZB). Fault-based notices — for non-payment of rent, successive breaches, damage, or other tenant breaches — remain available on their own separate grounds and retain their shorter notice periods.

For property managers, this change has two immediate practical implications. First, any tenancy administration process that relied on end-of-fixed-term notices as a default way to transition a property between tenants needs to be rebuilt around the remaining allowable grounds. Second, every Notice to Vacate issued from 25 November 2025 must state the correct statutory ground and, where required, include supporting evidence. A notice that cites no ground, or cites a ground that no longer exists, is invalid and will not be enforceable at the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT). Ensure your template notices are updated to reflect the post-reform position.

Alongside the abolition of no-fault end-of-fixed-term notices, the November 2025 reforms extended the minimum notice period for most no-fault Notices to Vacate and for rent increases from 60 days to 90 days.

Rent increases. Under the amended Residential Tenancies Act 1997 (Vic), a rental provider must give a renter at least 90 days notice of a proposed rent increase, using the prescribed Notice of Rent Increase form available from Consumer Affairs Victoria. Critically, the 90-day period runs from when the renter receives the notice, not from the date it was sent or dated. If you send notice by post, you must allow additional time for delivery on top of the 90 days. Providing a short notice that does not give the renter a full 90 days after receipt is invalid, and there is no mechanism to retrospectively validate it. If a rent increase notice is invalid, the increase does not take effect and the previous rent continues.

No-fault Notices to Vacate. The 90-day minimum now applies to the remaining allowable no-fault grounds: notices for significant repairs (s 91ZX), demolition (s 91ZY), owner or family occupation (s 91ZZA), and sale (s 91ZZB). This is an increase from the previous 60-day minimum that applied to most of these grounds.

What has not changed. Fault-based Notices to Vacate retain their shorter periods. A notice for non-payment of rent has a 14-day notice period; a notice for breach of the rental agreement has a 14-day notice period for a first breach and a shorter period for a successive breach. These remain unchanged.

For property managers who manage properties where the rental provider needs vacant possession — for a sale settlement, an upcoming renovation, or family occupation — the extended 90-day notice period significantly changes the lead time required. Planning for a property to be vacated now requires starting the process three months out at minimum, with additional buffer for delivery time and the possibility that the renter challenges the validity of the notice at VCAT.

From 25 November 2025, rental providers and their agents are prohibited from advertising or otherwise offering a property for rent unless they reasonably believe the property already meets Victoria's rental minimum standards. A property that does not yet meet minimum standards cannot be listed online, placed on a sign, or offered to prospective renters in any form — even with an intention to bring it into compliance before the renter moves in.

This is a change from the previous practice where some rental providers would begin marketing a property and complete remediation works during the advertising period or before the tenancy start date. That approach is no longer compliant.

The penalty for advertising a property that does not meet minimum standards is 60 penalty units for an individual and 300 penalty units for a body corporate. At the current Victorian penalty unit value of $203.51 (2025–26 financial year), that translates to approximately $12,210 per breach for an individual, and approximately $61,053 for a body corporate. Consumer Affairs Victoria has flagged that it is actively monitoring compliance, including through analysis of online property listings.

For property managers taking on a new management appointment, the workflow implication is clear: before drafting the listing, conduct a minimum standards assessment. If the property has any non-compliant item — a cooktop that does not function, a deadlock that is broken, a fixed heating source that is absent — those deficiencies must be remedied before the property goes to market. For the detailed list of what each minimum standard requires and how to assess compliance, see our VIC rental minimum standards checklist.

The minimum standards also apply throughout the tenancy. A property that met standards at the time of advertising must continue to meet them throughout the rental relationship. If a standard deteriorates during the tenancy — for example, a heating unit breaks down — the rental provider is responsible for restoring compliance. Documenting the state of each minimum standards item in entry and routine inspection condition reports is essential for establishing when a deficiency arose and who is responsible for addressing it.

From 25 November 2025, rental providers are required to arrange an annual smoke alarm safety check for all rental properties. This applies regardless of when the rental agreement commenced — there is no grandfathering for existing tenancies that predate the November 2025 reforms.

The annual check must be a genuine safety check, not merely pressing the test button on each alarm. A full smoke test and physical inspection of each alarm — confirming it is correctly installed, in working order, fitted with appropriate batteries, and has not expired — is required. The check must be arranged by the rental provider, not left to the renter.

For property managers, the compliance obligation means building an annual smoke alarm check into the recurring maintenance schedule for every property under management. The check should be documented — a written record confirming the date, the technician or agency that conducted the check, the alarms inspected, and the outcome. If any alarm is found to be non-compliant, it must be repaired or replaced promptly.

This is a practical expansion of existing smoke alarm obligations. Victorian rental properties were already required to have functioning smoke alarms installed. The November 2025 change adds the annual check requirement, ensuring that alarms are not just installed but regularly verified as operational.

Property managers should note that this annual check obligation sits alongside the separate requirement to provide renters with a copy of the most recent gas and electrical safety check reports. For properties with gas installations, a gas safety check is required every two years. For electrical safety, an electrical safety check is required every two years. Each of these compliance obligations requires its own scheduling and documentation — the smoke alarm annual check is a third, annual obligation that runs alongside them.

From 25 November 2025, property managers in Victoria must use the rental application form prescribed by Consumer Affairs Victoria for all residential tenancy applications. Using a custom agency form, an unapproved third-party application platform template, or any form that does not comply with the prescribed format is a breach of the amended Residential Tenancies Act 1997 (Vic) and can attract significant penalties.

The prescribed form standardises the information that rental providers and their agents can request from prospective renters. It covers identity verification, income and employment information, rental history, and references — but does not permit open-ended requests for personal information that go beyond these categories. Information that cannot be requested includes details of the applicant's personal relationships or lifestyle beyond the number of proposed occupants, sensitive personal characteristics, or financial information that goes beyond what is necessary to verify income.

Alongside adopting the prescribed form, rental providers and agents must offer prospective renters at least two methods of submitting a rental application. At least one of those methods must not impose a barrier — it should be accessible without requiring the applicant to subscribe to a specific platform, create an account with a third party, or incur additional costs. An agency that only accepts applications through a single paid portal, without also offering an email or in-person option, would not comply.

For agencies that have been using their own application templates or proprietary application platforms, this change requires updating workflows immediately. Confirm with any third-party platform you use that their forms have been updated to comply with the prescribed format. Review your standard tenancy administration process to ensure at least two submission methods are available to every applicant.

A separate change that took effect on 1 December 2025 — one month after the main tranche of reforms — requires all Victorian rental properties to have blind and curtain cords made safe against the risk of strangulation. Specifically, all blind and curtain cords in rental properties must be secured so that they cannot form a loop at a height below 1.6 metres above floor level. Approved methods include retaining cleats, breakaway connectors, and cord anchors.

This standard applies to all rental properties, regardless of when the property was built or when the blinds were installed. There is no exemption for older properties with existing cord-operated blinds. If a rental property has cord-operated blinds or curtains, compliance must be achieved by securing the cords at or above the 1.6-metre threshold.

For property managers, the practical step is to assess every property in the portfolio for cord-operated window coverings and confirm compliance. Compliance check items should be added to routine inspection reports so that any new window coverings installed by renters during the tenancy are also assessed at the next routine inspection. Properties taken on as new management appointments should be assessed for cord safety as part of the initial property inspection, alongside the broader minimum standards assessment required before advertising.

One further reform that property managers need to plan for is the introduction of mandatory Continuing Professional Development (CPD) requirements for Victorian real estate professionals, rolling out from November 2026. This reform was announced as part of the same Housing Statement reform package and will require property managers, licensed real estate agents, agents' representatives, owners corporation managers, and conveyancers to complete prescribed CPD activities each year and maintain records of completion.

The CPD requirements are not yet in effect as of June 2026, and the specific content requirements and annual hours obligations will be confirmed by Consumer Affairs Victoria closer to the commencement date. However, property managers should be aware that this is coming and begin planning for the time and cost investment. The principle behind the requirement is that property management is a regulated profession with compliance obligations that change regularly — the mandatory CPD framework is intended to ensure all practitioners keep pace with legislative changes.

Consumer Affairs Victoria's website at consumer.vic.gov.au will publish the specific CPD requirements ahead of the November 2026 commencement. Property managers should also monitor guidance from the Real Estate Institute of Victoria (REIV), which is involved in the CPD framework's development.

From a compliance record-keeping perspective, the CPD requirement means property managers will need to maintain records of their training activities. Agencies should begin building structured CPD record systems now to avoid a compliance scramble when the requirements take effect.

Several of the November 2025 reforms interact directly with condition report practice in ways that are worth understanding as a connected picture rather than in isolation.

The minimum standards before advertising requirement changes the entry timeline. When a property must meet minimum standards before it can be advertised, the entry condition report should document the state of minimum standards items at the point the tenancy commences — confirming that standards were met at entry, not just at the point of advertising. If any minimum standard was borderline at advertising and fully remedied before the renter moved in, note that completion in the entry condition report. This creates a clear documented record that standards were met at the commencement of the tenancy.

The no-fault eviction changes make condition reports more significant for breach-based terminations. With end-of-fixed-term notices abolished, rental providers who need to end a tenancy on a fault basis — such as damage to the property — need evidence to support the claim that a breach has occurred. Condition reports play a central role here. A thorough entry condition report establishes baseline condition. Routine inspection reports create a documented timeline of how condition changed during the tenancy. An exit condition report comparing against the entry establishes that damage occurred during the tenancy. Without this documented chain, a fault-based Notice to Vacate may be challenged at VCAT without strong evidentiary support.

Annual smoke alarm checks belong in your inspection documentation. When a smoke alarm check is conducted, the report from that check should be stored alongside condition reports in the property's file. If a dispute arises — or if Consumer Affairs Victoria requests evidence of compliance — you need to be able to produce proof that the annual check was completed, by whom, and what it found. Integrating smoke alarm compliance records into your routine inspection workflow ensures nothing falls through.

Cord safety assessments can be incorporated into routine inspection checklists. Adding a specific item for blind and curtain cord compliance to routine inspection report templates means this safety standard is verified at every inspection, not just once. If a renter installs new cord-operated blinds during the tenancy without arranging compliant cord safety devices, this is identified at the next routine inspection and can be addressed promptly.

If you have not reviewed your processes since November 2025, the following is a structured action list by area.

Notices to vacate and tenancy ending: Remove any template Notice to Vacate that cited end-of-fixed-term grounds (sections 91ZZD or 91ZZDA). Replace with updated templates that cite the correct current grounds. Ensure every NTV includes the specific ground and, where required, any documentary evidence (evidence of sale contract, evidence of planned renovation, etc.). Build 90-day lead times into your tenancy end-date planning for all no-fault grounds.

Rent increase notices: Update your template rent increase notice to reflect the 90-day notice requirement from the date of receipt. Add buffer time when sending by post. Implement a calendar check to confirm that every notice is issued at least 91–95 days before the intended effective date, to account for postage and any delivery uncertainty.

Before advertising a new property: Complete a minimum standards assessment as part of your new management onboarding process, before the listing is drafted. Rectify any non-compliant items before advertising. Document the assessment and any remediation work. This protects the agency in the event of a Consumer Affairs Victoria compliance check triggered by an online listing.

Smoke alarm compliance: Add an annual smoke alarm check to the recurring maintenance schedule for every property under management. Engage a qualified technician or smoke alarm service provider. Store the written record of each check in the property file alongside condition reports and gas/electrical safety check records.

Rental application process: Replace any custom application forms with the Consumer Affairs Victoria prescribed form. Ensure two submission methods are available and that at least one does not require a platform subscription or impose a cost on the applicant. Confirm with any third-party application platform you use that their forms have been updated.

Cord safety: Add blind and curtain cord compliance to routine inspection checklists. Assess every property taken on as a new management appointment for cord-operated window coverings and arrange compliance measures where needed.

CPD planning for November 2026: Begin monitoring Consumer Affairs Victoria and REIV communications for CPD framework details. Establish a system for recording and storing CPD completion records for all property management staff in advance of the requirement taking effect.

The common thread running through the November 2025 Victorian reforms — minimum standards documentation, fault-based eviction evidence, smoke alarm compliance records, and cord safety checks — is that they all require better-organised, more reliable property documentation produced at the time of inspection rather than reconstructed afterwards.

ConditionHQ generates Victoria-compliant condition reports at the time of inspection, with structured photo documentation embedded against each room and item. For property managers who need to document minimum standards compliance as part of the entry condition report, ConditionHQ's structured template approach ensures that each standard is individually assessed and recorded — not bundled into a generic "general condition" note that provides little evidential value.

For the connection between condition reports and fault-based Notices to Vacate — now more important with no-fault grounds abolished — ConditionHQ's entry-to-exit comparison makes it straightforward to identify and document changes in condition that occurred during the tenancy. When a rental provider needs to demonstrate that damage was caused by the renter (not pre-existing), a clear comparison between entry and exit photographs, timestamped and embedded in the report, is the most persuasive evidence available at VCAT.

For agencies managing the annual smoke alarm compliance obligation, ConditionHQ's inspection scheduling and property record storage provide a single location for all property compliance documentation — condition reports, safety check records, and routine inspection reports — organised by property and accessible when needed.

ConditionHQ offers a free tier with three reports per month for agencies wanting to evaluate the platform without commitment. The Pro plan ($59 per month) and Agency plan ($149 per month) provide unlimited reports and the full entry-to-exit comparison toolkit. Given the elevated documentation standards that the November 2025 Victorian reforms demand, a condition report tool that produces complete, well-organised reports at the time of inspection is no longer a time-saving convenience — it is a compliance infrastructure decision.