11220 – Leasing

Leasing is the point where a screened applicant becomes a tenant under a binding agreement — drafting and executing the lease, setting its terms, and managing the condition-report process that anchors the tenancy from day one. Errors made here are disproportionately expensive later, since a poorly drafted lease or missing condition report weakens a landlord’s position in almost every dispute that can follow.

Because so much of what a managing agent does over the life of a tenancy traces back to decisions made at this stage — the terms set, the report completed, the bond correctly lodged — leasing is worth treating as the most consequential single administrative step in the whole tenancy, not a formality to move through quickly on the way to a signed agreement.

This entry covers:

• Standard lease terms and structure
• The entry condition report
• Bond lodgement
• Fixed-term vs. periodic tenancies, and lease renewal/rent-review timing

This entry does not cover:

• Assessing who gets offered the lease in the first place → addressed in Tenant Screening (11210)
• Day-to-day rent collection and trust accounting once the tenancy is running → addressed in Financial Management in PM (11240)
• Ending a tenancy through dispute or breach → addressed in Conflict Resolution for PM (11270)

Residential tenancy agreements are governed by state and territory residential tenancies legislation, not a single national law — the standard lease form, permissible special conditions, bond caps, and notice periods all differ by state.^1,2,3 Bond handling is separately and heavily regulated: nearly every state requires bonds to be lodged with a government authority within a set number of days of receipt, and agency trust accounting for any interim holding period is subject to the same discipline covered in Trust Accounting Compliance (11440).^4,5,6

Getting the entry condition report right also has real evidentiary weight under these Acts at the tribunal stage if a bond dispute arises later — a report that’s vague, unsigned by one party, or missing photographic evidence carries materially less weight than one both parties have engaged with properly at the outset.

Slowing Down at Signing

The lease-signing and condition-report stage is worth treating as unhurried even under pressure to get a vacancy filled — a rushed or incomplete condition report is the recurring cause of bond disputes that could otherwise have been resolved with a photograph taken on day one. The time saved by rushing this stage is almost always smaller than the time later spent on a disputed claim it could have prevented.

Calendaring Renewal and Review Dates

Agencies that build lease renewal and rent-review dates into a standing calendar, rather than reacting to them as they arrive, avoid the common failure of a tenancy quietly rolling onto unfavourable periodic terms by default — and give themselves the lead time needed to have a considered rent-review conversation with the landlord rather than a rushed one against a looming deadline.

Common Mistakes

The most common mistake is a condition report completed by only one party, or without photographic evidence, which weakens its evidentiary value precisely when it’s needed most. A second is special conditions copied from a previous lease without checking they remain enforceable under current state legislation. The third is losing track of a fixed-term expiry date and only noticing after the tenancy has already rolled into a periodic arrangement neither party actively chose.

1. Residential Tenancies Act 2010 (NSW) — NSW Legislation
2. Residential Tenancies Act 1997 (Vic) — Victorian Legislation
3. Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008 (Qld) — Queensland Legislation
4. Residential rental bonds — NSW Government
5. Residential Tenancies Bond Authority — Consumer Affairs Victoria
6. Residential Tenancies Authority — Queensland Government