Tenants shut door on ‘open house’ inspections

A Melbourne couple’s objection to large numbers of prospective buyers coming through their rented home could curb ‘open house’ inspections in Victoria, especially, and even in NSW.

According to a recent story in Fairfax Media, the Box Hill couple were told the property was being sold and they would have to allow open viewings as well as  have pictures of the interiors displayed on the internet.

In both NSW and Victoria, residential tenancy laws allow landlords to show prospective buyers around, providing they have given proper notice.  But in Victoria they say tenats are legally entitled to the ‘quiet enjoyment’ of their home while in NSW the law says you are entitled to ‘reasonable peace, comfort and privacy’.

In both states, the law demands that the landlord provide a secure living space for their tenants.

So the question arises, are privacy and security compromised by open house viewings.  For every serious prospective buyer, how many sticky-beak neighbours are there.  And how many potential thieves might there be ‘casing the joint’ or even just stealing personal possessions that take their fancy?

For owners, it’s part of the risk you run to maximise the rewards when you are trying to sell. For tenants, there is no ‘upside’ to letting droves of strangers into your home. Internet pictures mean tenants have to hide all their valuables or allow the world and his net-surfing brother to see all that they’ve got.

In the Melbourne case, the Tenants Union of Victoria supported the couple at the Victorian Civil Administration Tribunal (VCAT) and it issued an order preventing the agent from bringing more than one prospective buyer through at a time without the tenants’ express permission.

“The law states that tenants are entitled to ‘quiet enjoyment’ of their rental property,” Tenants Union policy officer James Bennett said in this story in Fairfax Media, adding that open houses could be “a massive infringement of privacy, security and quiet enjoyment.”

The ruling does not set a legal precedent, but it could provide guidance for future cases at VCAT and is a potential roadmap for actions at the NSW Civil Administration Tribunal (NCAT) which can adjudicate on what’s “reasonable” – the criterion for what’s allowed in NSW.

The Victorian Tenants Union has a comprehensive fact sheet covering this called “Your Landlord Is Selling” on their website tuv.org.au while the NSW Tenants Union has a comprehensive fact sheet called “Access and Privacy” on tenants.org.au.

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