How Often Can I Legally Increase the Rent on My Investment Property?
Rent-increase limits and notice periods are set by state tenancy law, not one national rule. Here's what decides the answer, and where to check it.
How often can I increase the rent on my investment property?
There’s no single Australian answer, because there’s no single Australian rent-increase law. Each state and territory runs its own residential tenancies legislation, with its own regulator, and its own settings for how often rent can rise and how much notice a tenant is owed. A rule that applies in one state doesn’t automatically apply next door.
Two things decide the actual answer for a given property: which state or territory it’s in, and what type of tenancy agreement is in place — a fixed-term lease or a periodic (rolling, month-to-month) agreement. As at July 2026, every state and territory limits how often the rent can rise once a tenancy is under way — once every 12 months in NSW, VIC, QLD, WA, ACT, TAS and SA, and once every 6 months in the NT — and each sets its own minimum period of written notice before a new rent takes effect, ranging from 30 days (NT) up to 90 days (VIC). The full breakdown, state by state, is set out further down this guide. Both settings can change and some agreements carry extra conditions of their own, so confirm the current figure with the regulator for the property’s own state before acting on it.
Why isn’t there one national rule for rent increases?
Residential tenancy law sits with the states and territories, not the Commonwealth. Each jurisdiction has passed its own residential tenancies Act, and each administers it through its own regulator — several also run their own bond authority, where a tenant’s rental bond is lodged. Moneysmart, the Australian Government’s own financial guidance service, makes the same point about bonds: a bond’s amount “varies between different states and territories” — direct evidence that even a federal consumer body treats tenancy rules as state-specific, not uniform.
The practical effect for an investor: if you hold property in two different states, you can be looking at two different sets of rent-increase rules on the same day, because your properties sit under two different Acts.
Which regulator administers tenancy law in your state or territory?
As at July 2026:
| State/territory | Act | Regulator |
|---|---|---|
| NSW | Residential Tenancies Act 2010 | NSW Fair Trading |
| VIC | Residential Tenancies Act 1997 | Consumer Affairs Victoria |
| QLD | Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008 | Residential Tenancies Authority (RTA) |
| WA | Residential Tenancies Act 1987 | Consumer Protection WA |
| ACT | Residential Tenancies Act 1997 (ACT) | Justice and Community Safety Directorate |
| TAS, SA, NT | Each runs its own residential tenancies law too | Contact that state or territory’s consumer affairs or fair trading department directly for current settings |
This table names the Act and regulator only, current as at July 2026 — not the frequency or notice figures themselves. Legislation and regulator names do change occasionally, so check the link before relying on it, and that’s also where the specific number for your state lives.
How often can rent rise, and how much notice is required, in each state or territory?
As at July 2026, this is the minimum gap the law requires between rent increases, and the minimum written notice a landlord must give before a new rent applies, under each jurisdiction’s residential tenancies law:
| State/territory | Minimum gap before another increase | Minimum written notice before the new rent applies |
|---|---|---|
| NSW | 12 months | 60 days |
| VIC | 12 months | 90 days (raised from 60 days on 25 November 2025) |
| QLD | 12 months | 2 months for a general tenancy; 4 weeks for a rooming accommodation agreement |
| WA | 12 months | 60 days |
| ACT | 12 months | 8 weeks |
| TAS | 12 months | 60 days |
| SA | 12 months | 60 days |
| NT | 6 months | 30 days |
These are minimums, not entitlements. A fixed-term agreement can generally only have its rent increased during the term if the agreement itself sets out how the increase will be worked out, and getting the notice period or the minimum gap wrong can make an increase invalid. Most jurisdictions also give a tenant who considers an increase excessive a way to have it reviewed, through that state’s tenancy tribunal or a dedicated rent commissioner. Confirm the current figure and any conditions attached to it with the regulator linked in the table above before relying on it — these settings do change.
What actually decides how often — and by how much — rent can change?
Even before you get to a specific figure, three structural things shape the answer, and all three vary by jurisdiction:
- The type of agreement. A fixed-term tenancy agreement sets out, in writing, what happens to rent during that fixed term. A periodic (rolling) agreement is generally where a landlord proposes the next rent, subject to whatever notice their state’s Act requires.
- How the increase is delivered. Every state’s Act requires a landlord to give notice of an increase in a set form, with a minimum period before it takes effect — the minimum notice period for each state and territory is set out in the table above.
- Whether it’s the first increase or a later one. Some jurisdictions treat the rent set at the start of a new agreement differently from a later increase during an ongoing tenancy.
Most states also give a tenant a way to query or dispute an increase they consider excessive, or not properly notified, through that state’s tenancy dispute body. The exact process differs by state — your regulator’s page, linked in the table above, is the place to check it.
How does a rent increase affect your return as an investor?
Rent is the numerator in the standard yield calculation. Gross rental yield = annual gross rent ÷ property value × 100; net rental yield subtracts the property’s operating expenses from that rent first. We cover both formulas — and the difference between yield on purchase price and yield on current value — in our guide to calculating gross and net rental yield.
A rent increase moves the top line of that calculation. On its own, it doesn’t tell you anything about how the property is tracking against the market — that’s a separate research question, covered in that guide.
Rent also sits on one side of the cash-flow ledger investors watch, set against loan interest and other running costs. Our guide to cash flow positive versus negatively geared property sets out how that trade-off works.
What should you weigh before raising the rent?
This is general information, not a recommendation for your property. The trade-offs a landlord typically weighs include:
- Vacancy risk. A rent set well above comparable listings can extend the time a property sits empty between tenancies if the current tenant leaves.
- Tenant retention. Re-letting a property costs money and time — advertising, a letting fee, potential vacancy — that a smaller, well-communicated increase can sometimes avoid.
- Running costs. Council rates, insurance premiums, strata or body corporate levies and loan repayments move independently of any single rent review; some landlords use an increase to keep pace with these, others don’t.
- Comparable rents. Listing sites such as realestate.com.au and Domain, and CoreLogic-licensed data, are common places investors and property managers check what similar properties in the same area are currently renting for. MyBrix doesn’t publish or endorse a rent benchmark of its own.
- Using a property manager. If an agent manages the tenancy, they typically handle the comparable-rent check and the formal notice. Management fees are a private, negotiated commercial arrangement that varies by state and by property type — no government body publishes a standard percentage, and industry-published ranges vary widely by state and by metro/regional location. Check with the relevant state real estate institute (such as REIQ, REINSW or REIV) or a licensed property manager in the property’s own state for current rates.
None of this tells you what to charge for a specific property. That’s a question for your property manager, or a licensed real estate professional in the property’s own state, working from the current rule for that state.
How does a rent increase reach Brix holders?
If you hold Brix in a rented property, a change in rent flows through the same distribution mechanism as the rent itself. Net Rental Proceeds — Gross Rental Proceeds minus Rental Management Fees — are distributed monthly to all Brix holders, including MyBrix and the property owner, in proportion to their holding at the time of distribution. If you sell your Brix before a distribution date, the distribution generally goes to whoever holds the Brix at that time, not the previous holder.
What this means for you
The honest answer to “how often” starts with “it depends where the property is” — and the specific frequency and notice-period figures for your state are worth confirming directly with that state’s regulator, linked in the table above, before you act on them. What doesn’t change by state is the shape of the decision: a rent increase is one line in a broader set of numbers — yield, cash flow, vacancy risk and running costs — that together describe how an investment property is performing for you.
For the fundamentals of property investing — how rental income, costs and capital growth fit together — see our guide to what property investment means in Australia.
