Is Your Rental Property Ready for Disaster Season
The festive season is also the beginning of the disaster season. The Residential Tenancies Authority (RTA) has provided a guide for both Landlords/Property Managers and Tenants to keep themselves and their homes safe.
According to the Queensland Government’s Get Ready Queensland program:
- natural disasters affect Queenslanders more than anyone else in Australia
- there have been over 80 fatal natural disasters in Queensland since 2011
- over the last 10 years, natural disasters have caused more than $16 billion dollars’ worth of damage.
How to prepare
In Queensland, we’re more susceptible to storms, floods, cyclones and bushfires.
Step 1: Understand your risk
This includes finding out about your risks, finding your local council, and staying up to date with the weather.
Step 2: Prepare your household emergency plan
This includes four key things to consider when making your plan, as well as a dynamic form you can use to complete your plan.
Step 3: Check out what you need and pack an emergency kit
This includes food and toiletry staples and essentials for when the power goes out.
Remember, staying safe during severe weather events must be your top priority. Stay alert, and follow any active public safety directives from authoritative bodies, such as your local council, Bureau of Meteorology, Queensland Fires and Emergency Services or Queensland Police Service.
How to recover
If your rental property is impacted by a natural disaster, it can be difficult to know where to start. It’s important for all parties involved to communicate openly and respectfully.
Assess the damage and determine whether or not the property is deemed liveable under the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008.
Organise any repairs needed to bring the property back to a liveable condition within a reasonable timeframe
Come to an agreement regarding the tenancy agreement, choosing to either: end the tenancy, because the property is unlivable, or continue the tenancy, where the tenant continues to live in the property while it’s being repaired, temporarily end the tenancy, where the tenant finds alternative accommodation while it’s being repaired and enter into a new agreement once repairs are complete.
For your free investment property health check, please contact 07 3123 7373 or lauren@rentalresults.com.au
