Investment Property Maintenance in Perth: A Landlord's Practical Guide

Owning an investment property in Perth is a solid long-term strategy for a lot of people. The rental market has been strong, demand across most metro suburbs remains high according to REIWA (Real Estate Institute of Western Australia), and well-maintained properties continue to attract quality tenants and hold their capital value.

The word that matters in that last sentence is maintained. An investment property that isn't looked after properly costs more to run over time, attracts lower quality tenants, generates more disputes and sells for less when the time comes. The landlords who get the best long-term returns from their investment properties are almost always the ones who treat maintenance as a system rather than a series of reactions to things going wrong.

This guide covers what WA law requires, what good landlords do beyond the minimum and how to set up a practical approach to maintenance that works whether you own one property or several.

What the law requires

The Residential Tenancies Act 1987 (WA) is the legislation that governs the relationship between landlords and tenants in Western Australia. It sets out maintenance obligations clearly and without much room for interpretation.

Landlords are required to provide and maintain premises in a reasonable state of repair, having regard to their age, character and prospective life. This obligation applies throughout the tenancy, not just at the point of signing the lease. A property that was in reasonable condition at the start of a tenancy but has deteriorated and not been maintained is not meeting the legal standard.

The Consumer Protection division of DMIRS provides detailed guidance on landlord and tenant responsibilities in WA. It is worth reading before you take on your first rental property, and worth revisiting if you haven't looked at it recently. The framework around urgent repairs in particular is one that catches landlords out.

Urgent repairs are defined under the Act and must be addressed promptly. They include:

• Burst water services or serious water leaks

• Gas leaks

• Dangerous electrical faults

• Flooding or serious storm damage

• Failure of a gas or electric hot water service

• Failure of a stove or oven

• Failure of a heater in winter

• A fault that makes the property insecure

Tenants have the right to arrange urgent repairs themselves if the landlord cannot be contacted or does not respond within a reasonable time, and to recover the cost from the landlord up to a prescribed limit. Landlords who are uncontactable or slow to respond to urgent repair requests create both a legal liability and a tenant relationship problem that tends to compound quickly.

For non-urgent repairs, the landlord must address them within a reasonable timeframe. What's reasonable depends on the nature of the repair, but the expectation is prompt attention rather than indefinite deferral.

Dispute resolution

Landlords and tenants who can't resolve a maintenance dispute directly have access to formal resolution processes in WA.

The Commissioner for Consumer Protection can assist with tenancy disputes and provides a conciliation service as a first step. Where conciliation doesn't resolve the matter, either party can apply to the State Administrative Tribunal (SAT) for a formal determination.

Most maintenance disputes don't reach SAT. They get there when communication has broken down, when a landlord has consistently ignored reasonable repair requests or when the amounts involved are significant enough to make formal resolution worthwhile. Staying ahead of maintenance and communicating clearly with tenants resolves the vast majority of situations before they become formal disputes.

Smoke alarms: a specific compliance obligation

Smoke alarm compliance is one of the most straightforward maintenance obligations for WA landlords and one of the ones most commonly misunderstood.

Under the Building Regulations 2012 (WA), smoke alarms are required in all residential properties. Landlords are responsible for ensuring smoke alarms are installed and in working order at the start of each tenancy. Tenants are responsible for replacing batteries during the tenancy.

The Department of Fire and Emergency Services WA provides clear guidance on smoke alarm requirements for rental properties in WA, including the required locations and alarm types. Hardwired smoke alarms must be tested and serviced by a licensed electrician registered with EnergySafety WA.

Pool and spa compliance

Investment properties with pools or spas in Western Australia have additional compliance obligations under the Building Regulations 2012 (WA).

Pool and spa barriers must meet the requirements of Australian Standard AS 1926 and are subject to inspection by local councils. The Building and Energy division of DMIRS provides guidance on pool barrier requirements. Pool barriers that are non-compliant are a serious safety issue and a significant legal liability for landlords.

If your investment property has a pool, confirm that the barrier is compliant before the property is tenanted and check it at each tenancy changeover. Gates that have sagged, latches that have stopped self-closing and barriers that have been altered since installation are all common compliance issues.

Gas appliance obligations

If the investment property has gas appliances, including gas hot water systems, gas cooktops or gas space heaters, the landlord is responsible for ensuring these are safe and in working order.

All gas work must be carried out by a licensed gas fitter under the Gas Standards Act 1972 (WA). A gas appliance that a tenant reports as faulty needs to be inspected promptly. A gas leak reported by a tenant is an urgent repair under the Act and requires immediate action.

For gas emergencies, Atco Gas Australia operates a 24-hour emergency line on 13 13 52.

A practical maintenance system for Perth landlords

Beyond the legal obligations, the landlords who manage their investment properties most cost-effectively tend to share a few common habits.

Condition reports done properly. A thorough ingoing condition report, completed with photos and signed by both parties, is the baseline against which everything else is measured. It protects the landlord at the end of the tenancy and sets a clear standard for the tenant from the start. A condition report that was done hastily or superficially is not much use to anyone when a dispute arises.

Routine inspections used as maintenance checks. The Residential Tenancies Act 1987 (WA) allows landlords to conduct routine inspections at specified intervals. The most effective landlords use these as an opportunity to identify maintenance issues proactively, not just to check on the tenant. A plumber under the sink, a fence post that's starting to rock, a gutter that needs clearing — finding these at a routine inspection and addressing them promptly is considerably cheaper than finding them when they've become a tenant complaint or a damage situation.

A reliable trades team. The practical bottleneck for most landlords isn't knowing what needs to be done — it's having reliable people to do it promptly. A handyman who responds quickly and can handle a range of general maintenance work is genuinely valuable. So is a plumber, electrician and gas fitter who are familiar with the property and can be called on reliably. For landlords managing multiple properties, having a single team that handles multiple trade areas across all properties simplifies the whole process considerably.

Keeping records. Maintaining a record of maintenance requests, what was done, who did it and when is good practice both for tax purposes and for managing disputes. Records of gas appliance servicing, electrical work and any compliance-related inspections are particularly important to keep.

Tenancy changeover maintenance. The period between tenancies is the most efficient time to address maintenance that has accumulated during the lease. A systematic check of the property between tenancies — carpentry, plumbing, electrical, painting, outdoor areas — means the property goes to the next tenant in good condition and reduces the likelihood of early maintenance requests.

What good maintenance does for your returns

The financial case for proactive maintenance is straightforward even before the legal obligations are considered.

A well-maintained property attracts better tenants. Better tenants look after the property more carefully, raise fewer maintenance requests during the tenancy and are more likely to renew their lease rather than leaving at the end of the first term. Vacancy periods are expensive — typically representing a loss of several weeks of rent plus the cost of finding a new tenant.

A well-maintained property also commands stronger rent. Tenants in Perth's competitive rental market compare properties carefully. A property that is clean, in good repair and well presented achieves a better rent than a comparable property that isn't. The maintenance cost is typically recovered through stronger rent and lower vacancy rates.

And at the point of sale, a well-maintained investment property presents better to buyers, achieves a stronger price and moves more quickly than one where maintenance has been deferred. The capital gain from a well-maintained property over a ten or twenty year holding period is meaningfully higher than from one that has been allowed to run down.

Choosing the right trades team for your investment property

For most Perth landlords, the practical challenge isn't understanding what needs to be done — it's finding reliable, licensed tradies who show up when they say they will, do the work properly and communicate clearly about what they've done and what it costs.

A team that handles multiple trade areas under one roof: handyman work, plumbing, gas fitting, carpentry and renovation work, is particularly useful for investment property maintenance because it reduces the number of relationships to manage and ensures that when something needs multiple trades, the coordination happens without the landlord being in the middle of it.

Visit thisandthat.com.au to find out more about what This & That handles across Perth, request a quote here or call 0487 606 491 to talk through your investment property maintenance needs.