Factsheet 18: Lead

As a tenant you have rights under the Residential Tenancies Act 1987 and Residential Tenancies Regulation 2006. This factsheet explains what you can do if you think your home is contaminated by lead.

Lead in residential premises

Lead in residential premises can be harmful, especially to small children and pregnant women. Lead is most commonly found in old paint (before 1970), soil and dust in the roof.

If you think your home is contaminated with lead, get information and advice from:

• the Global Lead [Poisoning Prevention] Advice and Support Service (GLASS – see below)
• your local council
• your doctor – about blood tests and health effects.

Then you can decide whether you want stay in your place and have the landlord to fix the problem, or you want to leave.

If you want to stay

Under the Residential Tenancies Act, your landlord must provide premises which are clean and fit for habitation and maintain the premises in a reasonable state of repair.

You are legally obliged to tell your landlord of any repairs needed, or any damage to the premises. You also cannot make any renovation or alteration to the premises without the landlord’s written consent.

Therefore, if you think there is lead in your place, contact your landlord or the real estate agent immediately to sort out a solution. Confirm all conversations and agreements in writing and keep copies of all letters.

If your landlord has agreed to make the necessary repairs, make sure that attempts to fix the problem do not make things worse. Removal of lead needs to be done carefully and safely. Contact GLASS for advice and referral on safe methods of removal of dust and paint.

If the landlord refuses to do repairs, you can apply to the Consumer, Trader and Tenancy Tribunal (CTTT) for orders

• that the repairs be done
• for a rent reduction for the time that you were unable to use parts of the premises
• for compensation for any loss to you caused by your landlord breaking the terms of your residential tenancy agreement (i.e. failing to do repairs)
• that rent be paid to the tribunal until the repairs are done.

If you want to leave

If you want to leave, you need to end your residential tenancy agreement. See Factsheet 09: You want to leave.

If you want to leave because the landlord/agent refuses to do repairs, it may be better to apply to the CTTT first for an order that they must do the repairs. You can always agree in conciliation to move out of the premises at a time that suits you. You may also ask for a rent reduction and/or compensation.

Consumer, Trader and Tenancy Tribunal

The tribunal decides disputes between landlords and tenants and can order your landlord to do necessary repairs, reduce the rent, pay compensation and/or end your agreement.

Get advice from your local Tenants Advice and Advocacy Service before taking action in the tribunal.

The tribunal will need evidence from you to make the orders you want, such as:

• your residential tenancy agreement
• all correspondence between you and your landlord
• drawings and photographs of the premises
• samples of contamination
• reports of professional lead assessment
• medical reports
• reports by your local council's building or health inspectors
• receipts for expenses paid
• printed material on lead hazards. (e.g. factsheets from GLASS).

You can seek an urgent hearing of your matter at the tribunal –  apply as soon as you can. If you think that your landlord is breaking the terms of your agreement, you have 30 days to apply. You can ask for an extension of time to apply, if necessary.

In tenancy matters, the tribunal cannot make orders worth more than $10,000. For compensation over this amount, you will have to sue in a court. If you have suffered significant injury, get advice from a community legal centre about court action before taking action in the tribunal. (To find your local community legal centre see www.nswclc.org.au).

Contacts

Global Lead [Poisoning Prevention] Advice and Support Service: phone 02 9716 0132, free call 1800 626 086, www.lead.org.au

Updated: October 2008

Further help

• Your local Tenants Advice and Advocacy Service: www.tenants.org.au/publish/contact-us
• Other factsheets: www.tenants.org.au/publish/factsheets
• NSW Fair Trading Information Centre: 133 220

The information in this factsheet:
• is intended as guide to the law and should not be used as a substitute for legal advice
• applies to people who live in, or are affected by, the law as it applies in New South Wales, Australia.
© Tenants' Union of NSW.