How to Increase the Rent Legally: Notice Periods and Rules in Every State (2026)

You’ve had a look at what similar places nearby are asking, and your rent is behind. Maybe by $30 a week, maybe by more. So you’d like to put it up, and you’d like to do it properly, without a letter coming back from a tenants’ union or a tribunal telling you the increase never counted.

Fair enough. Rent increases are one of the most rule-bound things a self-managing landlord does, and the rules have moved a lot since 2024. Almost every state now runs on a 12-month clock. Victoria needs 90 days’ notice on a prescribed form. Queensland attaches the 12 months to the property, so a previous owner’s increase counts against you. The old “every six months” habit is still printed on plenty of websites, and it can get a notice thrown out in seven of the eight jurisdictions.

So this is the whole process in one place: whether you should, whether you can yet, what to send, how much, and what happens if your tenant pushes back. Get the notice right and it’s a formality. Get it wrong and the tenant simply keeps paying the old rent.

Should you increase the rent at all?

A rent increase is a rent review. Some years the answer is “yes, we’re well under the market”. Some years the answer is “we’re about right, and I’d rather keep this tenant than chase $20”. The maths on that second one is worth doing out loud. On a $600-a-week property, a single empty week costs you $600, which is thirty weeks of a $20 increase. If a good tenant who pays on time and looks after the place would leave over $20, you haven’t gained anything for the better part of a year. Our senior agent Chenelle puts it more bluntly: “A couple of weeks’ vacancy plus reletting costs and a bit of turnover maintenance can wipe out a whole year of an extra $20 a week.” She often suggests sitting a little under market for a great tenant, “and in my experience it works: they stay longer and treat the place like home.”

The other side is just as real. If you’re $60 a week under, that’s over $3,000 a year, and it compounds: every increase you skip makes the next one bigger and harder to explain. Below-market rent also costs you at sale time, because an investor buying a rental property with tenants in place values it on the income it produces.

So start with evidence rather than a round number. Our guide to working out how much rent to charge walks through the comparison method; a Rental Value & Market Report gives you the recent comparable rentals for your suburb in one document, which is also exactly what a tribunal asks for if the increase is ever challenged. Decide the number you can defend, then work out whether you’re allowed to ask for it yet.

What our team sees
“Nine times out of ten the first question is ‘how much am I allowed to put it up?’, and straight after that, ‘will they leave?’ Hardly anyone asks about the notice rules first, which is funny, because that’s where landlords actually get caught out.”
Chenelle Moothedom, Senior Agent, PropertyNow

Are you allowed to yet? The 12-month clock

Every state and territory limits how often you can raise the rent, and this is where most invalid notices start. Increase inside the limit and the increase is unenforceable; in New South Wales and Queensland it’s also an offence.

Once every 12 months in NSW, Victoria, Queensland, WA, SA, Tasmania and the ACT.
Once every 6 months in the Northern Territory.

A few of these have wrinkles that catch self-managers.

NSW moved to once per 12 months for all agreement types, fixed and periodic, from 31 October 2024. Rent also can’t be increased in the first 12 months of an agreement, and a renewal with the same tenant is treated as the same agreement for the clock.

Queensland attached the 12 months to the property rather than the tenancy from 6 June 2024. If the previous owner, agent or tenant’s rent went up nine months ago, you wait another three, even though you’ve only just bought the place. Your tenant can ask you in writing for evidence of when the rent was last increased, and you have 14 days to provide it (a rent ledger or the last notice will do). If you’ve just bought a rental, get that date from the seller at settlement.

Western Australia went from six months to 12 on 29 July 2024. If you signed a fixed-term agreement before that date with six-monthly increases written into it, they can keep running until that term ends; after that, the 12-month rule applies.

The ACT counts the 12 months from when the last increase took effect, not when you gave notice, and from 10 December 2024 it carries across consecutive agreements. Sign a new lease with the same tenant and the clock does not restart.

Victoria is once per 12 months for agreements that started (or went periodic) on or after 19 June 2019; the small number of older agreements still on the six-month rule are the exception, not the norm.

South Australia counts from the start of the agreement or the last increase, and a run of agreements with the same tenant is one agreement for the clock.

Tasmania allows no increase mid-lease unless the written lease allows it; otherwise the rent moves at renewal or 12 months into a longer lease, and never sooner than 12 months from when the tenancy started or was last increased.

Note the date of every increase in your rental ledger the day it takes effect. A landlord who knows that date never gets the clock wrong.

Can you increase the rent during a fixed term?

This depends entirely on where the property is, and it splits three ways.

No clause needed (NSW, ACT). For agreements that started on or after the recent changes (NSW from December 2024, ACT from 10 December 2024), you can increase mid-term as long as you meet the 12-month rule and give the full notice. Nothing has to be written into the lease. In NSW, an older fixed term of under two years that started before 13 December 2024 still needs the amount or exact method written into the agreement, and “in line with the market” or “the rate of inflation” doesn’t count.

Clause with the amount or method (Victoria, Queensland, WA, SA, NT). The agreement itself has to say the rent will go up and state the new amount or how it will be worked out (a dollar figure, a percentage, CPI). Even then, you still have to give the full written notice; Queensland’s RTA puts it plainly: “It does not automatically come into effect because it is in the agreement.” Without the clause, you wait for the fixed term to end. The NT goes one step further: its Act requires that clause for any increase, periodic tenancies included, so an NT agreement with no rent-increase clause can only change the rent by agreement with the tenant or with a new agreement.

Clause that allows an increase (Tasmania). The written agreement needs to allow for an increase; the CBOS guidance is that in most cases rent can’t go up mid-lease, and on a lease longer than 12 months it can go up 12 months in.

Two things follow. First, decide at signing time whether you want the option of a mid-term increase, and if so, write the method in properly. Our explainer on residential lease agreements covers the clause. Second, a periodic tenancy is simpler in every state except the NT: once a fixed term rolls over, the 12-month clock and the notice period are the only tests.

One NSW-specific point for longer leases: a tenant on a fixed term of two years or more can end the agreement with 21 days’ notice, without a break fee, if you increase the rent during the term, provided they give that notice before the increase takes effect. Check that before you send the notice.

Rent increase notice rules by state

The notice is the legal act. What it has to say, how long it has to run and whether it has to be on a particular form all differ by state.

State	Minimum notice	How often	Form and contents	If your tenant thinks it’s too much
NSW	60 days, in writing (email is fine if the tenant has agreed to email service)	Once per 12 months, and not in the first 12 months	No prescribed form (Fair Trading publishes one). Must state the new rent amount, not the increase, the date it’s payable, and be signed and dated. A notice is required even if the increase is written into the agreement	NCAT, within 30 days of the notice
VIC	90 days from 25 November 2025 (was 60)	Once per 12 months (agreements from 19 June 2019)	Prescribed CAV form is mandatory; without it the notice is invalid. Must state the increase, how it was calculated (specific: “1.8% in line with CPI, September 2025 quarter” works; “CPI” or “market valuation” alone does not) and what the renter can do. Electronic service only with written consent	Free CAV rent assessment within 30 days, then Rental Dispute Resolution Victoria / VCAT
QLD	2 calendar months, in writing (4 weeks for rooming accommodation)	Once per 12 months, attached to the property since 6 June 2024	No prescribed form. Must state the new amount, the day it’s payable and the day the rent was last increased. Email or SMS only if the agreement allows	QCAT, within 30 days of receiving the notice
WA	60 days on the prescribed Form 10	Once per 12 months since 29 July 2024	Form 10 is mandatory: the increase, the new total and the date the first payment is due. Served personally or by ordinary post; keep proof	Magistrates Court (no application deadline stated)
SA	60 days, in writing	Once per 12 months	Use the CBS notice form; must state the new amount, the payment frequency and the start date. Can be handed over, posted, left in the letterbox or emailed	SACAT, within 90 days of the notice
TAS	More than 60 days (give yourself a clear margin)	Once per 12 months	No prescribed form. Must state the new amount and the day it starts	Residential Tenancy Commissioner, within 60 days
ACT	8 weeks, in writing	Once per 12 months, including across consecutive agreements	No prescribed form. Must state the date, the amount, whether it’s above the prescribed amount (see below) and, if so, that ACAT approval is needed unless the tenant agrees	ACAT, at least 2 weeks before the increase takes effect; the increase is on hold while it’s decided
NT	30 days, in writing	Once per 6 months	Only if the agreement gives you the right to increase and states the amount or method (fixed and periodic). Approved Form RT010 available; must state the amount and the date. Personal, post or electronic service	NTCAT (no deadline stated)

Sources, and the pages to re-read before you send anything: NSW Fair Trading, Consumer Affairs Victoria, the Queensland RTA, Consumer Protection WA, SA.GOV.AU, CBOS Tasmania, the ACT Government and, for the NT, section 41 of the Residential Tenancies Act 1999 (NT Consumer Affairs publishes the RT010 notice form). These rules change; four of the eight have changed since mid-2024.

Victorian landlords: our guide to the Victorian rental law changes goes through the form, the calculation wording CAV rejects and the new 90-day period in detail.

How to give a valid rent increase notice

The same six steps work in every state. The details in each one come from the table above.

Check the clock. Find the date the current rent started or was last increased (your ledger, the last notice, or the agreement). Add 12 months (6 in the NT). Your new rent can’t take effect before that date.
Check the agreement. Fixed term or periodic? If fixed, does your state need a clause, and does the agreement have one with the amount or method? If not, the increase waits for the term to end. In the NT, check for the clause on a periodic tenancy too.
Settle the number with evidence. Recent comparable rentals from the same suburb, similar in size and condition, and ones that have actually leased rather than what’s still advertised. Write down where each figure came from. Victoria requires the calculation on the form; every other tribunal will ask for it if challenged.
Write the notice with everything your state requires. New rent (the total, not the rise, in NSW), the date it takes effect, the calculation in Victoria, the last-increase date in Queensland, the prescribed-amount statement in the ACT. Use the prescribed form where there is one (VIC, WA); use the state’s published form everywhere else so nothing is missed. Sign and date it.
Serve it the way the agreement allows, and count properly. The day you serve doesn’t count. If you post it, add delivery time. Only email if the tenant has agreed to it in writing. Don’t rely on a text message: Queensland is the only state whose guidance treats SMS as acceptable, and only where the agreement allows it. Then count the full period from the day after service to the effective date and give yourself a few days of margin.
Record it. Note the notice date and the effective date in your ledger, and update your rent collection so the right amount is debited from the right week. If the tenant pays by direct debit through a platform, change the amount there before the effective date, not after.

Skip any of those and the tenant can keep paying the old rent. NSW’s Act says it in one line: a rent increase “is not payable by a tenant unless the rent is increased in accordance with this section”. Queensland, Victoria, WA and the ACT all say the same thing in their own words.

Chenelle sees the same few slip-ups again and again. Landlords count Queensland’s 12 months from when a new tenant moved in, instead of from the last increase. They send a text, or mention it at an inspection, instead of a proper written notice with the new amount and start date. Or they try to increase mid fixed term when the lease doesn’t provide for it.

How much can you increase the rent by?

In seven of the eight jurisdictions there is no cap on the amount. South Australia says it in terms: “There’s no limit to how much rent can be increased.” What every state has instead is a check: the tenant can ask the tribunal to decide whether the increase is excessive, judged mostly against rents for comparable properties in the area, the condition of the place, and the size of the jump relative to the current rent. That’s why step 3 above matters. A landlord who can hand over three recent comparable leases and a market report rarely ends up at a hearing, and rarely loses one.

Victoria expanded its list of factors from 31 March 2026 to include the rate of the increase against Melbourne CPI and how many increases there have been in the previous 24 months, which is a nudge toward smaller, regular reviews rather than one big catch-up.

The ACT is the exception. Canberra caps the increase by formula. An increase is presumed excessive if it’s more than 110% of the movement in the rents component of the Canberra CPI since you last gave notice of an increase (or since the tenancy started). If the rents index has gone from, say, 99.37 to 100.01 and the rent is $600 a week, the permitted increase works out to about $4.25 a week. If the index hasn’t moved, no increase is allowed. Above that line you need the tenant’s written agreement, given after they’ve received a proper notice, or ACAT’s prior approval, and for that you’ll want a document showing how you calculated it and why (outgoings, comparable rents, improvements). The ACT Government’s rent-increase calculator is offline while it’s updated for the ABS’s move to monthly CPI, so check the current index number yourself; the legal test is simply the most recently published figure on the day you give notice.

Telling your tenant

Everything above is what makes an increase valid. What makes it go through without fuss is how it’s explained.

Rents have risen a lot in most of the country, and your tenant knows it. Send the notice with a short, plain note: what the new rent is, when it starts, what comparable places are going for, and that you’re happy to talk if it causes a problem. Give more notice than the minimum if you can. If they’re a good tenant and the gap is small, say so and consider settling a little under the market; if the gap is large, consider two steps a year apart rather than one jump, which is also what a tribunal would look more kindly on.

Chenelle has watched the opposite approach go badly. “I’ve seen landlords go in hard after a couple of years of no increases and put the rent up by $120 a week. The tenants became bitter, stopped looking after the place, and started reporting every maintenance issue they could find. The tenancy didn’t last, and the landlord ended up giving them notice to leave for repeated breaches. If it had been explained properly and compassionately, with lots of notice, I believe it would have been a different outcome. Upfront communication and explanation make all the difference.”

The tenant’s options in every state are the same: accept it, or apply to the tribunal, with a conversation in between if they want one. The tribunal route is rare when the number is defensible and the notice is right.

The bottom line

A rent increase is a rent review with a procedure attached. Work out the number you can defend. Check you’ve cleared the 12-month clock (six months in the NT). If you’re mid-lease, check your state lets you and your agreement allows it. Then give the full written notice with everything your state requires, on the prescribed form in Victoria and WA, served the way the agreement allows, with a few days’ margin on the count. Record the date. That’s the whole job, and none of it needs an agent.

For most self-managing landlords the increase itself is the easy part. The part that saves you money is doing the review every year so the gap never gets big enough to lose a good tenant over.

Not sure what the market rent is?

A Rental Value & Market Report gives you the recent comparable rentals for your suburb in one document, which is exactly the evidence a defensible rent increase (and a tribunal) needs.

Get a Rental Value & Market Report

Frequently asked questions

How much notice do I have to give for a rent increase?
NSW, WA and SA: 60 days. Tasmania: more than 60 days. Queensland: two calendar months. The ACT: eight weeks. Victoria: 90 days (since 25 November 2025). The NT: 30 days. The day you serve the notice doesn’t count, and if you post it you should add delivery time.

How often can I increase the rent?
Once every 12 months in every state and territory except the NT, where it’s once every six months. In NSW you also can’t increase in the first 12 months of the agreement. In Queensland the 12 months follows the property, so a previous owner’s or tenant’s increase counts.

Can I increase the rent during a fixed-term lease?
In NSW and the ACT, yes for recent agreements, with the full notice and the 12-month rule. In Victoria, Queensland, WA, SA and the NT only if the agreement says the rent will increase and states the amount or method, and you still have to give the full notice (in the NT that clause is needed for periodic tenancies as well). In Tasmania only if the agreement allows an increase. Otherwise, wait for the term to end.

Is there a limit on how much I can increase the rent?
Not in seven of the eight jurisdictions, but the tenant can ask the tribunal to rule the increase excessive against comparable rents in the area. The ACT caps increases at 110% of the movement in Canberra’s rents CPI unless the tenant agrees in writing or ACAT approves.

Can I send a rent increase notice by email or text?
Email only where the tenant has agreed to receive notices electronically (in the agreement or in writing). Don’t rely on a text message; Queensland is the only state whose guidance accepts SMS, and only where the agreement allows it. Victoria and WA also require a specific form. When in doubt, post it and hand-deliver a copy.

What happens if I get the notice wrong?
The increase is invalid and the tenant can keep paying the old rent. In NSW and Queensland, increasing inside the 12 months is also an offence. Fix it by issuing a fresh, compliant notice; the full notice period starts again from the new date.

Do I have to use a specific form?
Yes in Victoria (the CAV “Notice of proposed rent increase”) and WA (Form 10). The other states publish a form you’re free to use, and the NT has an approved Form RT010. Using the state’s form is the easiest way to make sure nothing required is missing.