Hi Rosanna

I have long said and will forever say the risk is to high to make the tenant carry out the cleaning of gutters. Landlords are generally thought to be responsible under their general maintenance of the property obligations. IF tenants have to clean gutters, who trims trees? similar argument.

When I was in agency practice and as I explain to my clients today, it is recommended that as an agency policy, it is deemed landlord responsibility due to the above reasons.

Hope this helps.

Kind regards

Stacey Holt

www.realestateexcellence.com.au

Hi Rosanna,

I agree with Stacey – far too risky to insist on tenants climbing ladders. There are a number of companies offering gutter cleaning services for a reasonable fee. For the same reason we never insist upon tenants cleaning the exterior of upper storey windows, under eaves or fascias. Even if the landlord or the tenant does clean the gutters, would your Clients expect you as a property manager to climb onto the roof to check? For this reason we recommend to our Clients that an exterior house wash & gutter clean by a fully insured company once per year is the best solution.

I don’t know about other states but in VIC I was at a VCAT hearing one day and one of the items disputed was the gardening. Most of the costs were awarded to the landlord, however, the member would not award a small portion of the costs for pruning back trees which were above standing height.

The basic rule here is that if it is something that the tenant can not reach while standing on the ground it is too dangerous to ask that the tenant does it. If we request the tenant to clean the gutters and then they fall and break a leg and can’t work for 6 – 8 weeks, who is the first person they will sue??

I have most of my landlords on a re-occuring gutter clean with a handyman (every 6, 8 or 12 months depending on the surrounding trees). It is less than $100 a clean and it is tax deductable. Goes a long way toward the general maintenance of the property and means no one is getting sued by the tenant when they fall off the roof……

Sorry, always have been and always will be in the camp that gutters are a landlord’s responsibility.

Hi Rosanna, It is hard to justify this on the risk alone, as I have a property on my books with a 12 foot high cathedral ceiling.. so does the owner have to replace every light bulb as they blow?

The argument I use with gutters and trees is that whether the property was vacant or not, the tenant has no control over the growth of tall trees and their leaves, it is part of routine maintenance that just needs to get done.  I advise my owners to use a creditor on my books for verification that it has been done, also so I know that A) my owners are safe and  B) they don’t get too friendly with the tenants through frequent visits, that they feel they can make decisions without informing me

In regards to things being too high to reach, I’m with Sarah on this one.. however just because something is a tenants responsibility, doesn’t mean we expect the tenant to do it themselves.  If there was a situation (similar to lightbulbs needing replacing on a high ceiling) I inform the tenant that it is their responsibility and of the risk involved, which is why I give them the contact details of handymen/workers on our books that are insured to work at the height necessary to get the job done.

Hi Jason

Unless there is a special condition to the lease that tenants are responsible to change light bulbs. It is actually in fact I believe the owners responsibility to change light bulbs. We have queried the RTA about this in the past and were told the Act is silent in this regard. The Act does say though that it is the owners responsibility to maintain the property and its inclusions throughout the tenancy. Light bulbs are technically an inclusion. No—we don’t get an electrican out to all of our properties to change light bulbs as tenants just generally do this themselves as most tenants are not aware that they really don’t need to. We have however in the past had an electrican go out to a property on this regard as the tenant was elderly and couldn’t do it herself. The owner wasn’t happy about it but when we explained the law to them he agreed to doing it. We also get an electrician to replace fluros as they are tricker than a regular light bulb

As for the gutters Rosanna I believe it is definitely the owners responsibility to clean the gutters. The tenant should however inform us of any issues with the gutters that they notice between inspections.

Margaret Fogarty

www.dmrealty.com.au

www.facebook.com/DMRealty

Well said Margaret and totally agree

IN QLD we must be mindful of section 185 of the RTRA Act and the meaning of inclusions… it is widely thought and debated that inclusions means lightbulbs.

Kind regards

Stacey Holt

www.facebook.com/realestateexcellence

With you there Margaret, we had the same response from the RTA saying that it wasn’t actually specified (and most tenants do take care of it themselves).  I suppose when its a ‘grey area’.. which you get a lot when you call the RTA.. the information you get is more influenced by the thoughts of the person you are talking to. 

Thankyou :-)

Sorry, meant to say “I’m with you there”

hi Jason, this is from the RTA website – www.rta.qld.gov.au

The Act does not specifically refer to the supply of light bulbs or the maintenance of light bulbs.

Ideally, the lessor and tenant should discuss issues associated with light bulbs and their replacement at the start of the tenancy, and make reference to any agreement in the special terms of the tenancy agreement.

The provision of light bulbs should be identified in the Entry Condition Report.

Industry standards hold that the lessor/agent is responsible for maintaining specialised bulbs such as fluorescent tubing, expensive globes etc, whilst the tenant is responsible for the replacement of everyday inexpensive globes.

If an agreement cannot be reached about the replacement of light bulbs, either the lessor/agent or tenant may apply for conciliation/dispute resolution

Kind regards

Stacey Holt