In New South Wales, pest control in a rental usually sits with the landlord. The property has to be fit to live in on day one, and that includes being free of pests. The line moves once the tenant is in and something about how they live in the property brought the pests in.
That distinction sounds clean until a Banora Point unit gets cockroaches three months into a lease and nobody agrees on the cause. Here is where the line actually sits.
What the Landlord Covers
Where the Building Is the Cause
The owner is responsible for the building, so anything the building caused belongs to them.
- The property being pest free at the start of the tenancy. This is the baseline, and it is the one most disputes come back to.
- Anything structural. Cracked weep holes, gaps under doors, or a slow leak feeding a rodent or cockroach problem.
- Termites, without exception. Termite management protects the structure rather than the occupant, so it stays with the owner even when a tenant spots the damage first.
- Pre-existing activity, even if nobody noticed it for months.
We get called to settle these after the fact fairly often, and the building almost always tells us which side of the line the problem started on.
What the Tenant Covers
A tenant is responsible for how they live in the property, not for the property itself.
- Keeping the place clean enough that food and rubbish are not feeding anything.
- Reporting a problem early, in writing, so there is a record of when it started.
- Any infestation their own household caused. A pet bringing in fleas is the common one.
The practical test is not who found the pests. It is what let them in, and that is where most disputes actually start.
Fleas after a move-in. Fleas can sit dormant in carpet for months and hatch when a new household starts walking on it. The tenant did not bring them, but they are the ones being bitten.
Cockroaches in a unit block. German cockroaches travel through shared walls and plumbing. A spotless unit can still get them from three doors down, and treating one unit alone rarely holds.
Rodents in autumn. Rats move indoors when the weather turns. If they are getting in through a gap in the subfloor, that is the building.
Reasonably clean is not a number anywhere in the Act, which is exactly why these end up in argument.
What to Do Next
If you are the tenant. Put it in writing to the agent as soon as you see something, with photos and a date. Keep the place tidy while you wait, because that record matters if cause is questioned later. Ask whether the property had a treatment before you moved in and when the last one was done.
If you are the landlord or agent. Get the property treated between tenancies and keep the receipt. It is the cheapest evidence you will ever buy, and it settles the start-of-tenancy question before it becomes a dispute. A general pest treatment at changeover costs a fraction of what a contested infestation costs in vacancy and goodwill.
Can a landlord charge a tenant for pest control? Only where the tenant caused the problem, and the landlord needs to be able to show that. A general treatment at the start of a tenancy is not a tenant cost.
What if the lease says pest control is the tenant’s responsibility? A clause cannot override the requirement that the property be fit to live in when the tenancy starts. It can shift routine treatments during a tenancy, which is why the wording matters.
Who pays for termite treatment in a rental? The owner, in every case we have attended. Termite work protects the building.
The landlord owns the building and everything the building lets in. The tenant owns the housekeeping. Where the two meet, whoever can show what they did, and when, usually ends up on the right side of it.
If you are dealing with pests in a rental on the Tweed Coast and need someone to say plainly what caused it, contact TSD Pest Control. We put the cause in writing, which is usually what both sides actually need.
