Victorian Rental Minimum Standards: A Practical Compliance Checklist for Property Managers
If you manage rental properties in Victoria, the minimum standards aren't optional, aren't new, and aren't going away. They've been in force since 29 March 2021, but the rules have tightened significantly through 2025 and 2026 — and the consequences for getting them wrong now reach beyond a tribunal hearing. As of 25 November 2025, properties must meet every applicable minimum standard before they can even be advertised.
This is a practical breakdown for property managers and rental providers: what the 15 categories actually require, where compliance most often falls short, and how to build a workflow that keeps you on the right side of the regulations without scrambling at every changeover.
Why minimum standards matter (beyond avoiding penalties)
The minimum standards exist to set a floor for safety, hygiene, and habitability. But for the people running rental portfolios, they've become something more — a benchmark renters now expect, and the checklist that scrutiny falls back on whenever there's a dispute.
Three things have shifted the stakes recently:
Pre-advertising compliance. Since 25 November 2025, you can't legally advertise a property that doesn't meet the standards. The compliance work has to be done by listing day, not "before the renter moves in" as it used to be.
The window covering anchor rule. From 1 December 2025, every corded internal blind or curtain in a rental must have an anchor installed to prevent the cords forming loops. It's a small fix per property — but across a portfolio, easy to miss.
A second wave coming in 2027. The new minimum energy efficiency standards begin to phase in from 1 March 2027. Now is the planning window, not the action window.
Renters have legal recourse when standards aren't met — including the right to terminate, request urgent repairs, or pay rent into a special account until issues are fixed. None of that is good for landlord–tenant relationships or for your reputation as a manager.
The 15 categories — what they actually require
Here's a plain-English summary of each standard. The official wording lives in Schedule 4 of the Residential Tenancies Regulations 2021, but the practical interpretation is below.
1. Bathrooms
A washbasin and a shower or bath, both connected to hot and cold water. Showerheads need a 3-star water efficiency rating; older properties where this isn't possible can use 1- or 2-star.
2. Electrical safety
Modern switchboard with circuit breakers and residual current devices (RCDs, RCCBs, or RCBOs). For older fuse-board properties, the entire switchboard often needs replacing. This standard's been in force since 29 March 2023 — properties without it are already non-compliant.
3. Heating
A fixed (not portable) heater in the main living area, in good working order. For agreements from 29 March 2023 onwards, it must be energy efficient — meaning a 2-star or above reverse-cycle, gas space heater, ducted or hydronic system, or solid fuel appliance.
4. Kitchen
Dedicated cooking and food prep area, working sink with hot and cold water, and a stovetop with two or more burners. If there's an oven, it has to work.
5. Laundry
If the property has a laundry, it needs hot and cold water. (No requirement to install a laundry where there isn't one.)
6. Lighting
Functional natural and artificial light in habitable rooms, corridors, and hallways.
7. Locks
External entry doors must have functioning deadlocks, with limited exemptions (screen doors in the same frame, properties behind locked apartment building entries, heritage-listed properties).
8. Mould and damp
All rooms free from mould and damp caused by the building structure. This is the standard that catches the most landlords off guard.
9. Structural soundness
Sound and weatherproof. Sounds basic — but inspectors look at roof condition, wall integrity, and water ingress.
10. Toilets
Working, in a separate room (or appropriately within a bathroom or laundry), connected to mains sewage or an approved alternative.
11. Ventilation
Habitable rooms, bathrooms, toilets and laundries all need ventilation that meets the Building Code of Australia.
12. Vermin proof bins
Both a rubbish bin and a recycling bin, vermin-proof, meeting council collection standards.
13. Windows
External openable windows need functioning latches and the ability to stay open or closed.
14. Window coverings
Bedrooms and living areas need curtains or blinds that close, block light, and provide privacy.
15. Window covering anchors
Since 1 December 2025: every corded internal blind or curtain needs an anchor to secure the cord. Free kits are available from Consumer Affairs Victoria, or you can buy them from any hardware store.
The five compliance failures we see most often
Across portfolios, these are the standards property managers most consistently miss:
1. Outdated switchboards. Older properties — particularly weatherboard houses and smaller blocks built pre-2000 — often still have fuse-board systems that don't comply. The cost of replacement is significant, and many landlords delay until forced. Don't wait for a tenant complaint.
2. Window covering anchors. Easy to overlook because it's a small physical change, but every blind cord in every room counts. A portfolio of 30 properties could need 200+ anchors.
3. Mould treatment without addressing the cause. Painting over mould isn't compliance. The standard requires the property to be free of structural-related mould — meaning the underlying cause (poor ventilation, leaking roof, rising damp) has to be fixed.
4. Heating that meets the old standard but not the new one. Properties with pre-2023 fixed heaters are fine on existing leases, but if a heater dies or a new lease starts, the replacement has to meet the energy-efficient definition.
5. Sub-standard ventilation in renovated bathrooms. Cosmetic renovations sometimes remove or undersize exhaust fans. The Building Code has specific airflow requirements and "the old fan still kind of works" isn't enough.
A practical pre-listing compliance workflow
This is the workflow that holds up at scale, regardless of portfolio size.
Before listing:
Run the official Consumer Affairs Victoria checklist on every property
Confirm the switchboard meets the electrical standard (electrician's certificate)
Verify all blind and curtain cords have anchors fitted
Test heating in the main living area, and confirm energy-efficiency rating if installed post-2023
Inspect for mould and damp — including under sinks, behind furniture, and around windows
Confirm both a rubbish and recycling bin are present and vermin-proof
Check every external door has a functioning deadlock
Document everything with dated photos
At lease changeover:
Repeat the checklist (don't rely on previous compliance — things degrade)
If a fixed heater has been replaced since the last lease, confirm it meets the energy-efficient definition
Re-test smoke alarms and electrical safety devices
Ongoing through the lease:
Treat tenant repair requests as compliance signals, not just maintenance items
Annual switchboard inspection for older properties
Urgent repair response within statutory timeframes when issues affect any minimum standard
What's coming next
The 2027 energy efficiency standards are the next major shift. If you're planning capital works on any rental property between now and early 2027, build the upcoming requirements into the scope now — it's cheaper to install ceiling insulation, a 4-star showerhead, and an efficient cooling system while you're already on site than to retrofit them when a lease turns over.
Where to find the official sources
For the legal text and official guidance:
Consumer Affairs Victoria — Rental properties: minimum standards
Consumer Affairs Victoria publishes downloadable PDF checklists for both rental providers and renters
If you manage rental properties and want a second pair of eyes on your compliance workflow — particularly if you've inherited a portfolio with older properties or you're approaching a busy changeover period — get in touch.
Get a second set of eyes on your compliance
If you've inherited a portfolio with older properties, you're approaching a busy changeover period, or you just want to make sure nothing's slipping through the cracks before the 2027 standards land — let's talk it through.