Property care

We manage the occupants of your property. These are Defence members or Defence families and in some instances civilians.

We coordinate the occupants’ residency period.

During any vacant periods, DHA will:

• continue to pay rent
• perform services as described in the lease agreement and property care contract
• undertake a vacancy management regime (grounds maintenance, periodic property inspections, and clear mailbox)
• If your property is vacant for more than 30 days, we will inform you so you can advise your insurance provider if required. We will notify you once your property is reoccupied.

There is no need for you to inspect the property throughout the lease term. However, we can arrange an inspection for you each year if you wish.

At periodic intervals outlined in your lease, we engage an independent licensed valuer to provide an assessment for the rent. This could be an increase, decrease or a recommendation that there be no change to the rent.

We do not review the rent for leases which begin between 1 October and 31 December. For leases that begin within this period, we will conduct the rent review in the following calendar year.

We will notify you of our assessment for the new rent amount and if your lease does not include a rent review, we pay the rent per the entitlement stated within the lease.

Secondary market rent valuation process

If you disagree with our rent recommendation, you may be eligible to complete a secondary market rent valuation.

If your DHA Lease Agreement allows you to pursue a secondary market rent valuation, you have until 10 February 2024 to complete the secondary review process. Please follow these steps to initiate the process:

1. You must contact DHA to indicate that you intend to pursue the secondary market rent valuation process. You can do so by logging into Online Services. Within Online Services, you can simply select the ‘Secondary Review Process’ button. This will automatically inform us of your intentions.
2. You must engage a valuer of your choice. The valuer must be a certified practicing and registered member of the Australian Property Institute in the state or territory in which your DHA leased property is located.
   Note: Your valuer will be required to liaise with the DHA Valuations team and the DHA appointed market valuer as part of the review process.
3. You must provide your valuer with a copy of your DHA Lease Agreement and the DHA guidelines for lessor valuer (PDF 369 KB).
4. You must confirm that your valuer understands that the market rent valuation is to be undertaken as at 31 December of the previous year. Their valuation report should only include rents achieved for comparable properties leased before this date (i.e. not listed rentals) and should not include DHA leased properties. Further information is provided in the DHA guidelines for lessor (PDF 83 KB).
5. You must submit the secondary market rent valuation (your valuer’s report) to DHA by 10 February of the current year. You can do so through Online Services or by emailing it to annual@dha.gov.au.

If you require further information or assistance, please contact the DHA Valuations team by email via annual@dha.gov.au or phone 139 342 between 8.30am and 4.30pm AEST.

You must provide your valuer with a copy of your DHA Lease Agreement and the DHA guidelines for lessor valuer.

For the life of the lease, we organise and cover the cost of:

• most non-structural repairs
• general upkeep of grounds and gardens.

All work we arrange is undertaken by a licensed or qualified tradesperson.

DHA will generally not inform you of works carried out in accordance with the Repair Service as specified in the lease agreement. The exception is where the work will significantly change the appearance of the property or involves structural alterations or additions. In this instance, a DHA representative will contact you to discuss the work.

DHA will choose the contractor for all works carried out under the Repair Service.

Landlord retained responsibility

As with any property investment, you keep some responsibilities. These include:

• repairing and maintaining essential services such as water, electricity and gas
• maintaining appropriate insurance cover
• repairing damage caused by subsidence, pest infestation, fire, lightning, flood or storm
• repair work covered by a warranty held by you
• major landscaping.

If repairs are your responsibility, DHA will seek your approval for works to be carried out in accordance with your responsibilities as specified in the lease agreement and property care contract. These will need to be undertaken at your cost.

DHA are able to source quotes for any repairs on your behalf using our panel of suitably qualified contractors. By using a DHA panel contractor, you can benefit from the competitive pricing schedules we have negotiated with the contractors.

Alternatively, you may prefer to source your own quotes from a licensed or suitably qualified trades person (holding the appropriate insurances).

DHA will coordinate access for the works to be carried out regardless of which contractor you chose.

We list completed repairs in Online Services under the 'Maintenance' tab. The tab shows repairs covered by our service, and repairs which are your responsibility.

Emergency repair

In the event of an emergency, we will act on your behalf.

The emergency could be anything from flooding, fire or a breakdown of an essential service. In some circumstance we may need to act before we can let you know that works have occurred.

We cover the cost of repairs to items for which we are responsible.

If the repairs are your responsibility, we will contact you and ask for your instructions. In this situation we will pass any reasonable costs we incur on to you.

Lease end repair

As the end of the lease agreement approaches, we will ensure that:

• your property is cleaned to a professional standard
• the appliances are clean and in working order
• the dwelling, grounds and landscaping are in a neat and tidy condition.

We're here to help you manage your property. We conduct periodic inspections and provide access for repairs.

Should a contractor or insurer need access to the property we can help arrange an inspection time. You can submit your access requests by email, just ensure you tell us your preferred dates and the name and role of people who need access.

Reasons for access may include:

• valuations
• depreciation schedules
• real estate inspections
• mid-lease sales
• pest or building inspections.

You may also want to view the property yourself. If so, contact us to schedule a time that is suitable for you and the occupant. Due to the unique nature of our occupants and their employment, additional privacy and security measures are applied. There may be a delay in accessing your property where the occupant is deployed or on course.

Property inspections

Your property is inspected periodically by DHA, subject to the occupants’ movements and postings.

Inspection reports

Inspections reports are uploaded to Online Services automatically. You should receive a notification confirming when a report has been uploaded. These reports are available under the ‘Inspections’ tab for your property.

Inspection exclusions

The visual inspection undertaken by our staff and resulting report does not and cannot make comment upon:

• the assessment or detection of defects (including rising damp and leaks)
• the presence or absence of pests including timber pests
• common property areas
• site drainage (apart from surface water drainage)
• durability of exposed finishes
• any matters that are solely regulated by law or relevant Code or Standard
• any area(s) or item(s) that could not be inspected by DHA staff.

Consequently, the Inspection report is not a guarantee that defects and/or damage does not exist.

You may wish to obtain your own inspections for any of the excluded items.