Restumping a rental property in Shepparton.

If the stumps have failed to the point that the floor is unsafe, uneven or damaging the building, then yes, you have to fix it. The Residential Tenancies Act 1997 puts a duty on the rental provider to keep the premises in good repair, and that duty covers structure, not just the taps and the oven. A slightly sloping floor in a 1950s weatherboard is not automatically a breach. A floor dropping away from the wall, a bearer resting on a crushed stump, or a subfloor rotting from blocked ventilation is a repair obligation you cannot leave sitting.

Urgent or non-urgent?

The urgent repairs list in the Act includes any fault or damage that makes the premises unsafe, and a collapsed stump with a bearer dropping onto the floor above it fits that description. A gradual slope that has been there for years is a non-urgent repair, where the renter gives written notice and you have fourteen days to act before they can escalate to Consumer Affairs Victoria or VCAT. The safest reading for an investor is that anything moving quickly is urgent and anything moving slowly still has a clock on it.

The cost of leaving it.

Stumps do not stabilise. As one fails the neighbours take its load and follow it, and in the meantime the drop works its way up through the wall frame into plaster, cornices and door frames. A job that was a $6,000 partial restump becomes a $16,000 full restump plus a painter. If a renter has been reporting a sticking door for two years and you have been patching plaster, you have been paying for the restump in instalments without getting one. Our page on the warning signs covers what your property manager should be flagging at routine inspections.

It depends whether the Australian Taxation Office treats it as a repair or as capital works, and the distinction matters a great deal. Replacing a handful of failed stumps to restore the floor to how it was can be argued as a deductible repair. Replacing every stump in the house, particularly swapping timber for concrete or steel, generally looks like capital works, which is written off at 2.5% a year over forty years rather than claimed in one hit. An initial repair to a defect that existed when you bought the property is not deductible at all. Get your accountant to make the call before the invoice is issued, because the way the job is scoped and described affects the answer.

We are restumpers, not tax agents, and we will not pretend otherwise. What we can do is issue an itemised quote and invoice that separates the stump work, the subfloor repairs, the re-levelling, the permit and the engineering, so your accountant is working from a document that actually describes the job rather than a one-line total. That costs us nothing and it is the difference between a clean claim and a guess.

Is a landlord required to restump a rental property in Victoria?

If the stumps have failed to the point that the floor is unsafe, uneven or damaging the building, then yes. The Residential Tenancies Act 1997 puts a duty on the rental provider to keep the premises in good repair, and that duty covers structure, not just fixtures. A slightly sloping floor in a 1950s weatherboard is not automatically a breach. A floor dropping away from the wall, a bearer resting on a crushed stump, or a subfloor rotting from blocked ventilation is a repair obligation you cannot leave sitting.

Can I restump a Shepparton rental with tenants living in it?

Usually yes. Restumping is done from underneath with the house occupied and furnished on most jobs. The renter should expect several weeks of trades on site, noise, jacking that will crack some plaster and paint, and periods where doors need re-hanging. You must give proper written notice of entry under the Residential Tenancies Act, and you should talk to the renter about a rent reduction or a temporary move if the disruption is heavy. Homes with very low subfloor clearance are the ones most likely to need a vacancy.

Is restumping a rental property tax deductible?

It depends whether the Australian Taxation Office treats it as a repair or as capital works, and the distinction matters a great deal. Replacing a handful of failed stumps to restore the floor to how it was can be argued as a deductible repair. Replacing every stump in the house, particularly swapping timber for concrete or steel, generally looks like capital works, which is written off at 2.5% a year over forty years rather than claimed in one hit. An initial repair to a defect that existed when you bought the property is not deductible at all. Get your accountant to make the call before the invoice is issued, because the way the job is scoped and described affects the answer.

Is a failed stump an urgent repair under Victorian rental law?

It can be. The urgent repairs list in the Residential Tenancies Act includes any fault or damage that makes the premises unsafe, and a collapsed stump with a bearer dropping onto the floor above it fits that description. A gradual slope that has been there for years is a non-urgent repair, where the renter gives written notice and the rental provider has fourteen days to act before the renter can escalate to Consumer Affairs Victoria or VCAT. The safest reading is that anything moving quickly is urgent and anything moving slowly still has a clock on it.

How much does restumping a Shepparton rental cost?

The same as any other house, because it is priced per stump. Concrete stumps run about $60 to $110 each supplied and installed in 2026 and galvanised steel adjustable stumps about $90 to $160. A partial restump of the failed rows in a typical Goulburn Valley investment weatherboard sits around $4,500 to $9,000, and a full restump of a 40 to 70 stump home lands between $12,000 and $22,000 with re-levelling, permit and engineering included. Vacant possession does not make it cheaper, but it does make it faster.