Renting – a guide to leaving a rental

Sometimes you might choose to move out of your rental, other times your landlord might want to end your lease. Either way, there are lots of things to think about when leaving a rental. This page explains what to do if your lease is ending and you are moving out.

For legal advice about this topic, please contact us here.

Can I end my tenancy agreement?

Yes! You can end your lease by:

• reaching an agreement with your landlord;
• giving appropriate notice;
• breaking your lease;
• making an application to VCAT;
• transferring your agreement; or
• abandoning the property.

Different options have different consequences, so we explain each one below.

How can I end my tenancy by agreement?

You and your landlord can end your lease anytime through mutual agreement. Make sure the agreement is in writing, dated, and signed by you both.

On the other hand, if your landlord asks you to leave without giving you a notice to vacate, you do not have to agree to this unless you want to.

How can I end a tenancy by giving notice?

If you want to end your lease at the end of the agreement or are on a periodic lease, you need to give your landlord at least 28 days written notice. The notice of your intention to end your lease will need to be in writing, signed by you and include the minimum notice period and the date that you will be moving out and returning the keys.

We recommend that you use the form on the Consumer Affairs Victoria website : Renters giving notice of intention to vacate – Consumer Affairs Victoria. Using this form will make sure that you include all of the information that is required for the notice to be valid.

If you are on a fixed-term agreement and you do not give notice, your lease will become a periodic agreement after the lease end date. The periodic residential rental agreement created by default will be on the same terms as the terms of the fixed term agreement.

What happens if I break my lease?

If you want to end your tenancy agreement before the fixed-term end date, this is known as breaking the lease. If you want to break your lease, you will be responsible for certain costs so that your landlord is not out of pocket. You do not have to pay a penalty fee for breaking the lease.

Some of the costs you may be responsible for are advertising and re-letting fees (if you go through a real estate agent) to re-advertise and re-let the property. You can ask for an itemised list of any advertising costs to work out whether those costs are reasonable. For example, if the property is not advertised at all, it would be unreasonable for the landlord to ask for any costs.

Information about these fees is often included in your rental agreement. As a first step, we recommend that you check your agreement to see if it includes any details about calculating advertising and/or re-letting fees.

You may also be responsible for lost rent up until the landlord can re-let the property or until the end date of your agreement. In this case, the landlord must do everything they can to find a new tenant quickly. If there is a dispute around how much the landlord can seek in lost rent, try to negotiate with them first. But, if that does not work, you can apply to VCAT to decide.

If you would like to negotiate with the landlord about breaking your lease and any related lease-break costs, we recommend that you review the Tenant’s Victoria ‘Letter about intention to break lease’ to give you an idea of how you can give notice correctly, remind the landlord of their responsibilities and negotiate a fair outcome on any break-fees that will be charged to you. Where negotiations fail and you make an application to VCAT, the Tribunal can calculate an appropriate amount of compensation for the landlord.

There are some circumstances where you can break your lease without incurring costs. For example, if the reason you need to break your lease is because of family or personal violence or financial hardship you may apply to VCAT to terminate your lease with no additional costs to you. You can contact us for advice if either of these circumstances apply to your situation.

How can I end a tenancy agreement through the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT)?

You can apply to VCAT to terminate your agreement if:

• you are experiencing severe hardship due to unforeseen circumstances (like losing your job or getting diagnosed with a serious medical condition), or
• you are experiencing family violence and need to change your agreement to keep you and/or your kids safe.

How can I transfer my agreement to someone else?

You can transfer your lease to someone else if your landlord agrees in writing. Your landlord cannot unreasonably refuse your request.

If you do not have your landlord’s consent, the transfer will be invalid unless you have an order from VCAT saying otherwise. You may only apply to VCAT for such an order if you have reason to believe that the landlord unreasonably refused to give their consent for the transfer. If VCAT determines that the landlord’s consent is not required, the transfer can go ahead without it. The landlord cannot charge you a fee for agreeing to this request, but they may ask you to pay for reasonable expenses relating to the transfer.

What happens if I abandon the property?

Abandonment usually means leaving a property without giving your landlord a notice to vacate. If you abandon the property, your lease agreement ends.

If you have left your possessions behind, your landlord is required to notify you and give you at least 14 days to pick them up. If you do not collect your possessions within that timeframe, the landlord can sell or get rid of them. If your possessions include personal documents, these must be kept for 90 days. The landlord may charge you an occupation fee for storing your possessions if they were not able to rent out the property because of it.

When can my landlord ask me to leave early?

Your landlord can only give you a notice to vacate early in certain circumstances. A notice to vacate must be in the form provided by Consumer Affairs Victoria here: Notice to vacate in rental properties – Consumer Affairs Victoria.

Your landlord can give you a notice to vacate immediately if:

• you or a guest at your property either intentionally or recklessly cause serious damage to the property;
• you have endangered the safety of your neighbours, landlord, or agent; or
• the property is unfit for human habitation or totally destroyed.

Your landlord can give you a notice to vacate the property within 14 days if:

• you owe at least 14 days rent or have outstanding bond;
• you threatened your neighbours, landlord or agent;
• you have received 2 breach notices and the same breach occurs again;
• you have failed to follow a VCAT order;
• you did not get permission for a sub-let or to transfer the lease;
• a child under 16 is living at the property and this is not allowed under the agreement; or
• you are using the property for something illegal.

Your landlord can also give you a notice to vacate the property within 28 days if you are keeping a pet without their consent and VCAT has made an order saying the pet is not allowed.

If you do not vacate the property by the date stated in the notice, the landlord can go to VCAT seeking an eviction order. You do not have to leave the property until an order is made by VCAT.

If you disagree with the reasons included in the notice or you think the notice was not given to you properly, you can go to VCAT to dispute it.[2] We recommend you get legal advice as soon as possible about whether you have a good case to go to VCAT, as 30-day time limits can apply depending on the reason listed in the notice.

When can my landlord ask me to leave at the end of an agreement?

At the end of your fixed term agreement or at any time if you are on a periodic lease without an end date, your landlord can only give you a notice to vacate if it is for a valid reason as set out below.

Your landlord can only give you a notice to vacate for one of the following reasons:

• the landlord or their family members plan to move back into the property;
• the landlord plans to repair or renovate the property;
• the landlord wants to demolish the property;
• the landlord wants to use the property for something else, like a business;
• the property is going to be sold;
• the property is owned by a public authority and is needed for public purposes;
• the property is owned by a housing authority, and the tenant is no longer eligible for social housing; or
• the mortgagee (bank) has taken possession of the property.

The landlord must make sure that the notice to vacate is in a valid form and that it attaches any required evidence. Otherwise, the notice might be invalid.

The notice period will depend on the reason for the notice to vacate. If the landlord is planning to move back into the property and this is included as an additional term in the rental agreement, the notice period will only be 14 days. In each other case, the notice period will be 90 days.

Can my landlord blacklist me?

Blacklisting means being put on a tenancy database by a landlord or real estate agent. If you are blacklisted, it can make it harder for you to rent properties in the future.

You can only be included on a tenancy database if you have breached your tenancy agreement (for example, by failing to pay rent) and that has led to you owing your landlord more than your bond amount or VCAT evicting you.

If a landlord wants to list you on a tenancy database, they must let you know and give you 14 days to respond. It is an offence for the landlord not to follow this rule.

If your details are included on a tenancy database, they can only be kept for up to 3 years. If you think you have been unfairly blacklisted, we recommend you get legal advice.