Lease Reforms under Queensland’s Property Law Act 2023. A New Era for Leasing in Queensland: What You Need to Know

July 16, 2025

With the Property Law Act 2023 (PLA) coming into force on 1 August 2025, sweeping reforms will change how leases operate across the state. If you own, lease, or manage property—this affects you.

Reasonable actions from landlords to tenant requests

Under the PLA, landlords are now required to act reasonably when considering tenant requests for consent to assign the lease, sublease, alter the premises, or change the use of the premises. This provision cannot be excluded.

Prior to the PLA, dealings with commercial leases were entirely agreed between the parties. A requirement was often included in commercial leases which gave the landlord effectively unrestricted power to withhold consent.

The old phrase “at the landlord’s absolute discretion” is no longer enforceable. The requirement that landlords act reasonably is mandatory and applies to all leases, even those that were signed and commenced before the change to the PLA.

Changes to the PLA will prevent a landlord from unreasonably withholding consent where the lease requires a tenant to obtain the landlord’s consent to actions such as:

• Assigning the lease
• Subleasing or parting with or sharing possession of the premises
• Proposing to change the use of the premises from that permitted under the lease
• Mortgaging the tenant’s interest in the lease
• Altering the Premises

If a tenant requests consent for a dealing, the landlord has one month after receiving all of the relevant information to advise the tenant whether the landlord consents.

Relief Against Forfeiture

The PLA strengthens tenant protections if the landlord tries to terminate or block lease renewals due to tenant breaches.

If a tenant has a right to renew or extend the lease or acquire the land, and the landlord refuses due to the tenant’s non-compliance, the landlord must issue a breach notice within 10 business days.

Tenants then have one month to apply to the court for relief. Relief against forfeiture is effectively a court order overturning or blocking a landlord’s right to terminate a lease or evict a tenant. In deciding whether to give relief to a tenant, Courts may consider the nature of the breaches, the conduct of the parties and the extent to which the landlord has been prejudiced by the breaches.

Leases – assignment of all covenants

Another significant change in the PLA is that an assignee of a lease will take the benefit and burden of all lease provisions, regardless of whether they “touch and concern the land.” This provision applies retrospectively and cannot be contracted out of.

The means the landlord and tenant will not have to sign a separate deed of novation or assumption of those specific lease provisions.

There are some exceptions, including if the term is specifically stated in the lease as being personal to the designated tenant or if the lease clearly prohibits assignment or transfer of the relevant term.

The Property Law Act 2023 introduces significant changes to Queensland’s leasing landscape, aiming to modernise practices and ensure fairness for both landlords and tenants. The lease landscape has changed. Will you keep up?

For more information, please contact our Property Team at Fox and Thomas.