Changes to tenancy, consumer and property laws
The Housing and Consumer Affairs Legislation Amendment Bill 2026 introduces reforms to ACT tenancy, consumer and property laws to support residents.
About the reform
The bill aims to:
- change the quorum rules for owners corporations general meetings
- support landlords to transition from gas to electric services at their property
- remove the requirement for retirement villages to have an internal disputes committee
- make changes to land title caveats (registering a legal interest in a piece of land) so people who do not live in the ACT can lodge a caveat.
General meeting decisions for owners corporations
General meetings for owners corporations, including unit titled retirement villages, will have lower quorum requirements.
Currently, meetings need half of all unit owners to make quorum. Under the new changes, only a quarter of all unit owners will be needed.
Absentee and proxy votes will count toward a quorum in general meeting decisions. This change recognises those owners and their votes even if they aren’t in attendance.
Where attendance is below one-quarter of unit owners, and does not make quorum, decisions will take effect the following day.
Currently, there is a 28-day delay for decisions made without a quorum. This is to give owners time to organise a petition to oppose a decision.
Owners have found it difficult to organise and get enough support on a petition to overturn a decision. Under the new changes, the petition process will be removed. Owners will be able to go to the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal to overturn a meeting decision made below quorum.
This new process will help owners corporations apply decisions more efficiently. There will also be a pathway for someone to dispute a decision.
Gas transition at rental properties
If there are no appliances or services using gas at a rental property, a landlord does not need to provide a gas connection.
If a landlord is moving a rental property from gas to electric appliances, tenants will not be able to seek a rent reduction for not receiving a ‘like for like’ replacement appliance. Instead, the landlord has to supply a 'reasonable' replacement.
[H3] Resolving disputes in retirement villages
A change to the Retirement Villages Act will remove the requirement for an internal disputes committee. Setting up the committee incurred a cost for villages and was difficult to set up.
Retirement villages will be able to set up their own internal disputes committee if they choose. They can also access other dispute resolution pathways, including:
- the ACT Human Rights Commission
- the Conflict Resolution Service
- the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
Caveats on land titles
A land title caveat is where someone gives notice of having or claiming an interest in a piece of land.
Changes to land title caveats will remove the requirement for an ACT service address. A person lodging a caveat will be able to use a service address anywhere in Australia. This means that a caveat can be lodged even if the person lodging the caveat doesn’t live in the ACT.
Additionally, as long as you provide a postal address within Australia, you will be able to use an email address as another address for service.
This change makes land title caveats process more accessible. It aligns the ACT with other states and territories who allow an out-of-state service address for caveats.
Why it’s important
The Housing and Consumer Affairs Legislation Amendment Bill 2026 improves the everyday function of laws relied upon by Canberrans.
The changes address issues raised by stakeholders to improve processes in tenancy, unit titles, retirement villages and land titles laws.
The changes to general meetings for owners corporations address known concerns about owners corporations meetings. They also directly respond to recommendations from the Inquiry into the Management of Strata Properties.
The bill also supports the ACT’s transition to household electrification. The bill removes barriers to landlords transitioning rental properties from gas to electric appliances. Household electrification contributes to the Government's broader commitment to achieving net zero emissions by 2045.
Further changes modernise land titles processes through changes to caveats. Retirement village dispute resolution is also simplified while keeping access to independent dispute resolution through other channels.
Next steps
The Housing and Consumer Affairs Legislation Amendment Bill 2026 was introduced in the Legislative Assembly on 17 September 2026.
The bill will become law after:
- it passes in the Legislative Assembly
- the ACT Legislation Register notifies it as an Act
- the Act commences, with parts of this Bill commencing at different times.