Letting a brand new Clyde house: what handover does not cover
A new Clyde home can pass its handover inspection and still fail the Victorian rental standards. The items builders leave out, and how to close them before the first lease.
In short: Builders hand over to the contract, not to the Residential Tenancies Regulations. Coverings, cord anchors, bins and sometimes exhaust ducting are the usual gaps in a first Clyde rental.
Two different checklists
A practical completion inspection measures the house against the building contract, the drawings and the Guide to Standards and Tolerances 2015. The rental standards measure it against what a renter is legally entitled to. A house can pass the first and fail the second.
What builders leave out
Most Clyde contracts do not include blinds or curtains, so bedrooms and the living area are bare at handover. Bins may not have been delivered by the council yet. Those are window coverings and vermin proof bins, two standards failed on day one.
Blinds fitted in a hurry
Owners often order blinds between settlement and the first lease. Chain-operated rollers arrive with anchors in the box, and the anchors are not always fitted. Since 1 December 2025 a corded covering without an anchor fails its own standard.
Fans, latches and doors
New houses still have their faults: a bathroom fan not ducted outside, a window latch that does not catch, a front door that needs its strike adjusted. They are quick to fix if they are found before the listing goes live.
The order that works
Settle, fit the coverings and anchors, confirm bins, then book the standards inspection. Fix anything it finds, and only then advertise and complete the condition report.
Written by our local inspection team from work carried out in Clyde. Licensed building practitioners, Building & Plumbing Commission registration CDB-U 53425.
