Victorian Rental Minimum Standards: All 19 Requirements, and When the New Energy-Efficiency Standards Actually Start

Schedule 4 of the Residential Tenancies Regulations 2021 sets 19 standards covering locks, vermin proof bins, toilets, bathroom, kitchen and laundry facilities, structural soundness, mould and dampness, electrical safety, window coverings, windows, lighting, ventilation, heating, corded blinds, and — from 2027 — cooling, ceiling insulation, draughtproofing and water heaters.

Cooling, ceiling insulation and water heaters apply from 1 March 2027, and draughtproofing from 1 July 2027. Cooling, ceiling insulation and draughtproofing are keyed to residential rental agreements entered into or created on or after those dates; cooling then extends to all rented premises from 1 July 2030 under clause 16(3).

No — that date does not appear in the authorised Residential Tenancies Regulations 2021. It was the compliance date proposed in the Victorian Government’s May 2024 Regulatory Impact Statement on minimum energy efficiency and safety standards for rental homes, and that timetable was not enacted. The dates in Schedule 4 are 1 March 2027, 1 July 2027 and 1 July 2030, inserted by the Residential Tenancies Amendment (Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards) Regulations 2025.

Yes. Since 1 July 2025 an energy efficient fixed heater must be installed in the main living area under clause 14(3)–(4) of Schedule 4 as amended by S.R. 63/2025. For Class 2 buildings the requirement is a fixed heater where installing an energy efficient one would be unreasonable. From 1 March 2027 clause 14(6) broadens the requirement, with an unreasonableness test in clauses 14(7) to 14(9).

From 1 March 2027 for premises let under an agreement entered into or created on or after that date, and from 1 July 2030 for all rented premises, under clause 16 of Schedule 4. Before 1 March 2027 there is no cooling standard.

From 1 March 2027, for agreements entered into or created on or after that date, ceiling insulation with a minimum R-value of 5.0, installed within 30 days after a licensed or registered electrician completes a pre-insulation electrical safety checklist for the ceiling space, complying with AS/NZS 4859.1, AS 1530.1 and AS/NZS 1530.3 and installed in accordance with AS 3999.

For residential rental agreements entered into or created on or after 1 July 2027, under clause 18 of Schedule 4 of the Residential Tenancies Regulations 2021.

From 1 March 2027, clause 19 requires an energy efficient water heater supplying hot water to the kitchen, laundry and bathroom facilities, unless it is unreasonable to install one. Unlike the cooling and insulation standards, clause 19 applies on and from its date rather than being keyed to when the agreement was entered into.

The Residential Tenancies Regulations 2021, regulation 29, made under section 65A of the Residential Tenancies Act 1997. Schedule 4 covers general rented premises and Schedule 6 covers community housing and premises provided as part of a specialised housing program.

It depends on the standard. Most of the original standards apply generally from their commencement date; the heating requirement applies on and from its date; the water heater standard applies on and from 1 March 2027; and cooling, ceiling insulation and draughtproofing are keyed to agreements entered into or created on or after their commencement, with cooling later extending to all premises from 1 July 2030.

On and from 29 March 2023, not 29 March 2021. Clause 9 of Schedule 4 requires all power outlets and lighting circuits to be connected to a switchboard-type circuit breaker complying with AS/NZS 3000 and a switchboard-type residual current device complying with AS/NZS 3190, AS/NZS 61008.1 or AS/NZS 61009.1.

On and from 1 December 2025. Clause 15 of Schedule 4 deals with corded internal window coverings and their anchoring — it is a later addition than the original standards, and it is one of the requirements most often missed on an older property.

The residential rental provider. Section 65A(1) of the Residential Tenancies Act 1997 requires them to ensure the premises comply on or before the day the renter enters into occupation, with a penalty of 60 penalty units for a natural person and 300 penalty units for a body corporate — about $12,546 and $62,730 at the penalty unit value of $209.10 for the financial year commencing 1 July 2026.

No, they have their own regime under the Public Health and Wellbeing (Prescribed Accommodation) Regulations 2020 and the Residential Tenancies (Rooming House Standards) Regulations 2023, which impose a 7.5 m² minimum bedroom size, occupancy density limits and a one-toilet-per-ten-people facilities ratio that have no counterpart in ordinary rentals.

A renter can treat non-compliance as an urgent repair and can apply to VCAT, and the rental provider is exposed to the penalty under section 65A. Get advice on your specific situation rather than assuming a breach is minor — the duty is expressed to apply on or before the day the renter enters into occupation.

A self-contained second dwelling let as a residence under a residential rental agreement is rented premises, so the Schedule 4 standards apply to it in its own right. The Regulations do not mention granny flats or secondary dwellings expressly — this follows from the scope provisions and the exclusions in sections 8 to 14 of the Act, none of which turn on the dwelling being a second dwelling on the same lot.

The Residential Tenancies Regulations apply to premises let under a residential rental agreement. Short-stay accommodation is regulated differently, and rooming accommodation differently again — so the label on the listing does not decide it; the nature of the agreement does.

29 March 2021. Regulation 3 of the Residential Tenancies Regulations 2021 provides that the Regulations come into operation on that date, and the regulations were made on 27 January 2021.

A minimum R-value of 5.0, under clause 17 of Schedule 4, from 1 March 2027 for agreements entered into or created on or after that date.

Yes. Clause 17 requires the ceiling insulation to be installed within 30 days after a licensed or registered electrician has completed a pre-insulation installation electrical safety checklist in respect of the ceiling space. Insulation installed before that checklist, or more than 30 days after it, does not meet the standard as drafted.

Clause 11 of Schedule 4 requires all external windows capable of opening to be able to be set in a closed or open position and to have a functioning latch to secure them against external entry — a window lock or bolt satisfies that. Clause 10, in force since 29 March 2022, separately requires privacy coverings on windows in rooms likely to be used for sleeping or bathing.

It depends on the switchboard, the roof space, the existing hot water system and the cooling solution chosen. We do not publish a single figure because a wrong one would be worse than none — get quotes on the specific property, and note that the trades involved will be busiest immediately before 1 March 2027.

The authorised Residential Tenancies Regulations 2021 are published on the Victorian legislation website; Schedule 4 contains the standards for general rented premises. Consumer Affairs Victoria publishes a consumer-facing summary, which groups the requirements into 15 categories rather than the 19 clauses in Schedule 4.

Three instruments matter: S.R. 130/2024, made 26 November 2024 with regulations 4 to 6 commencing 1 December 2024; S.R. 63/2025, made and commenced 1 July 2025, which inserted the four energy-efficiency standards and moved the heating requirement; and S.R. 123/2025, made 25 November 2025 with most regulations commencing that day and regulation 20 on 31 March 2026.

Clause 13 of Schedule 4, as substituted by S.R. 63/2025 reg 17(4), requires every habitable room, bathroom, shower room, toilet and laundry to have ventilation that meets the relevant performance requirements of the Building Code of Australia. It is one of the standards rewritten in 2025, so guidance describing the pre-2025 ventilation wording is out of date.

Clause 1 of Schedule 4 requires that external entry doors which are not securable with a functioning deadlock have a locking device that is operated by a key from the outside and can be unlocked from the inside. The Regulations use the word “deadlock” — the “deadlatch with at least one cylinder” formulation often quoted is Consumer Affairs Victoria’s plain-English explanation, not the statutory text.

In one respect. For Class 2 buildings — apartments — clause 14 of Schedule 4 requires a fixed heater in the main living area where installing an energy efficient fixed heater would be unreasonable, rather than requiring the energy efficient heater outright. The Class 2 qualification appears at each stage of the staged heating requirement.

Regulation 29 of the Residential Tenancies Regulations 2021, as substituted by S.R. 63/2025 reg 11, prescribes the Schedule 4 standards for general rented premises and the Schedule 6 standards for community housing and premises provided as part of a specialised housing program. If the premises fall in the second category, Schedule 6 — not Schedule 4 — is the applicable standard set.