Empire Global Developments, which owns the entirety of the complex where the property is located, attempted to introduce a 20 per cent rent increase on their tenant, which the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal rejected.

The ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal has rejected an application by Empire Global Developments to increase a tenant’s rent by 20 per cent on a one-bedroom Canberra apartment.

It said the increase should be allowed because interest on borrowing costs, ACT government rates, and power costs had all increased – but those reasons were rejected because the costs were all tied to the entire apartment complex.

The ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal ordered a more moderate eight per cent rental increase for the property.