Breaking a lease used to be a daunting and costly move for renters but. if there is any upside to the housing crisis, finding tenants to replace them is much easier.
Renters asking to break their lease are required to compensate the landlord for financial losses due to the early termination.
This may include paying rent until a new tenant is found, advertising costs and re-letting fees.
But according to the Real Estate Institute of Queensland (REIQ), critically low vacancy rates and a high demand for housing mean finding a new tenant to take over a rental property is happening much faster.
"It's hard to find positive things to say about the rental crisis, but certainly one of the silver linings is that it is easier for a tenant to break a lease and minimise the amount of compensation they're required to pay," chief executive Antonia Mercorella said.
"If a new tenant is found very quickly, then it will mean that it minimises how much rent you are required to continue to pay and what we're seeing is that in many instances, properties are being rented out at the very first open inspection."
The latest data from property analysts PropTrack shows the national rental vacancy rate is just 1.12 per cent.
Fiorenza Provenzano and her partner had been renting a two-bedroom apartment since June in Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast for $750 a week.
But the couple needed to break their 12-month lease in December to relocate to Brisbane for work.
Ms Provenzano said their real estate agent warned them that it might be "a bit slow" to find tenants because of the holiday period, but the process ended up being "extremely quick and smooth".
"The house was literally snatched from the market," she said.
Ms Provenzano said it only took three days for the real estate agent to find a new tenant after posting the vacancy online.
"On the Saturday, that was the first inspection … and on that day, a couple made an application and got the apartment," she said.
Ending leases harder before pandemic
Gold Coast real estate agent Vicki Wharton said it used to take agents much longer to find a suitable tenant before the COVID-19 pandemic.
"The gap would go from what it is now, typically a couple of weeks, to four-to-six weeks, sometimes even two-to-three months … but now, they seem to change a lot faster," she said.
She created her own online group at the time to help renters find someone to replace them.
But these days, Ms Wharton said a common concern from tenants was that some agents could be "a little bit slow" at processing rental applications, despite a lot of interest for the property.
"This is where tenants tend to get a bit upset because they know that they're leaving, and it's now a financial burden to them," she said.
Property owners and managers are legally required to minimise costs associated with the tenant breaking the lease.
But Ms Mercorella said tenants needed to understand agents also had a legal obligation to their client to undertake a "robust" screening process to choose the best tenant for the property.
"It's not just a case of the tenant saying, 'Here's the new person that I'm giving you to take the tenancy over'," she said.
"It's not as simple as that."
Another Gold Coast real estate agent, Wendy Sotera, said tenants in "prestige" or high-end properties might still find it difficult to break a lease with a high weekly rent.
"When you look at what's advertised, there's a much bigger range of property advertised now, so people do have choice," she said.
"But the cost of living means that a lot of people that were renting bigger properties have downsized into smaller properties to try and save money."
Communication is key
Ms Sotera said the earlier the communication, the better.
"Most of my tenants will let me know if they're wanting to break the lease," she said.
"We'll discuss it. We'll talk about a strategy that's going to minimise any cost to them.
"Nine times out of ten, it's generally easy to find another good quality tenant if you work together."
For Ms Provenza and her partner, the quick process meant they were only charged a week's worth of rent and advertising costs of about $200.
But she cautioned other renters to ensure they could secure another property before breaking their lease, as they ended up inspecting 40 units in Brisbane until they were able to find a place to live.
"It is so quick nowadays, at least from our experience in the Gold Coast, that you risk being without a house because it's going to be so easy for you to put it back on the market, but so hard for you to find one on the other end," Ms Provenza said.
"Just make sure that you can then actually have a place to go."