Light, privacy and coverings: three rental standards in a Pakenham East home
Lighting, window coverings and windows are separate rental minimum standards that meet at the same place. How a Pakenham East rental satisfies all three.
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In short: Habitable rooms need daylight and a light fitting, bedrooms and the main living area need coverings that close, and every opening window needs a latch. Most failures are a missing blind or a loose winder.
Lighting is about every room
The lighting standard asks for natural light in habitable rooms during the day, apart from rooms that by design rely on artificial light, and a light in each room, hallway and corridor. We note any room where a fitting is missing.
Coverings in bedrooms and the living area
The window coverings standard needs curtains or blinds that can be opened and closed, block light and give reasonable privacy, in any room likely to be a bedroom or the main living area. Bare windows in a spare bedroom are a common miss.
Windows still need latches
Behind the covering, every external window that opens must latch. In newer Pakenham East homes the latch is usually present; the problem is more often a winder handle that has loosened or a latch that no longer catches.
Where anchors come in
Any corded covering also needs an anchor holding the cord taut. It is a separate standard, so a room can pass on coverings and still fail on anchors.
Written by our local inspection team from work carried out in Pakenham East. Licensed building practitioners.
