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Salient. Victoria University Student Newspaper. Volume 37, Number 25. 25th September 1974

Repairs to accomodation

Repairs to accomodation

Second, the Bill provides for a method by which tenants can force landlords to do repairs to houses to bring them up to a minimum habitable standard. If the rented property is considered by the tenant to be substandard in certain respects he can serve notice giving the landlord a minimum of a month to effect repairs. If the landlord does nothing within the [unclear: period] given, the tenant may have the repairs done and deduct the cost from his rent. If however the landlord gives notice that he contests the necessity for the repairs, the tenant must take the landlord to the Magistrates Court to force him to do so.

Since most landlords are likely to fight tenants' attempts to have their homes upgraded, this reference to the Magistrates Court may be necessary in most cases, and this will deter many tenants from taking advantage of it. Despite the legal aid system, going to law costs tenants money, if only in time lost from work, and also involves people in worry and suspense that many are unwilling to face. This problem could be avoided at least in part if the power to enforce repairs were put in the hands of a less formidable body than a court, and the government were to provide enforcement officers to represent tenants in such proceedings.

The third change in the law is to provide a method for landlords to enforce their rights againts tenants in respect of care of their premises, in a manner similar to that in which the tenant can enforce his rights against the landlord. Unfortunately it is expected that this system is likely to be more effective in the hands of landlords than of tenants, simply because tenants generally have less access to legal advice than landlords. However the rights given to landlords under the Bill, even if they may be more easily enforced than before, are considerably less than exist at present.