ACT law sets new rules for rental electrification and strata meetings

New ACT legislation will make it easier for apartment owners to hold valid owners-corporation meetings and for landlords to replace gas appliances with electric alternatives during a tenancy.

The Housing and Consumer Affairs Legislation Amendment Act 2026 was notified on Monday, November 9, and became partially effective on Tuesday. Its practical changes will be introduced in stages, so renters, landlords and unit owners should not assume the entire package applies immediately.

The Act amends land-title, residential tenancy, retirement-village and unit-title laws. The most direct housing effects concern electrification in rentals and the way strata-style meetings reach a quorum.

Rental gas connections and appliances

The tenancy provisions are designed to remove legal uncertainty when a landlord converts a rental home from gas to electricity.

Once these provisions commence, a landlord will not have to maintain a gas connection where the property no longer contains gas-dependent appliances. The landlord will be responsible for the cost of temporarily or permanently disconnecting the premises from the gas network.

The law also addresses disputes over replacement appliances. A tenant will not be entitled to a rent reduction merely because a gas appliance has been replaced with an electric model that is not identical, provided the replacement is reasonable and the home retains an electricity connection.

That protection for landlords is not unlimited. The explanatory statement gives the example of whole-home gas heating being replaced by a heat-pump system that heats only one room. In circumstances where the replacement is inadequate, unreasonable or impractical, the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal may still consider a rent reduction.

Likewise, removing an appliance without providing a reasonable replacement would not be protected simply because the work was described as electrification.

The residential tenancy amendments have not yet commenced. They will begin on a date set by ministerial notice, with a default commencement of November 9, 2027 if they are not started earlier.

That timing gives government, landlords and property managers time to prepare for how the rules interact with the ACT’s broader transition away from fossil-fuel gas.

Lower quorum for owners corporations

The changes for owners corporations have a fixed commencement date of February 9, 2027.

At present, a general meeting generally requires half of all units to be represented before it reaches a quorum. The new threshold will be one-quarter of the total number of units.

Proxy and absentee votes will count when determining whether the threshold has been reached. This is intended to make it easier for apartment and townhouse communities to conduct business when many owners do not attend meetings personally.

The Act also changes what happens at a meeting held with the reduced quorum. Decisions will take effect the following day rather than being delayed for 28 days. Existing provisions allowing residents to seek a petition against the meeting outcomes will be removed.

The reforms may help owners corporations approve routine maintenance, insurance, budgets and building work without repeated failed meetings. However, the lower threshold also makes participation more important: a relatively small group may be able to make valid decisions when most owners are absent.

Owners should check meeting notices promptly and submit a proxy or absentee vote where available if they cannot attend.

Other staged changes

Land-title amendments will also commence on February 9, 2027. They will allow an Australian address outside the ACT to be used for service when lodging a caveat and permit an email address to be added alongside the required postal address.

Most retirement-village changes begin on May 9, 2027. They will remove the statutory requirement for an internal disputes committee, while other independent dispute-resolution avenues remain available. The lower one-quarter quorum for unit-titled retirement villages begins earlier, alongside the owners-corporation changes in February.

Because the commencement dates differ, contracts, meeting procedures and tenancy disputes will need to be assessed against the rules applying at the relevant time.

What it means for you

• Rental electrification rules are not yet operating and require a later commencement date.
• Landlords will still need to provide reasonable electric replacements for removed gas appliances.
• Owners-corporation quorums fall from one-half to one-quarter on February 9, 2027.
• Unit owners who cannot attend meetings should use proxy or absentee voting rather than ignore notices.