Renting your own place or moving out with other people can be exciting. However, it can also be a very big decision. This page has information about how to prepare to move into a rental property, and what your rights are.
If you are already in a rental, and have a question, check out our guide to living in a rental, and our guide to leaving a rental. Not sure if your property is a rental? Check out our guide on different kinds of shared accommodation.
For legal advice about this topic, please contact us here.
Renting is an agreement between a tenant and a landlord. This agreement is also known as a lease. A tenant is a person who lives in a property owned by someone else. A landlord is the person that owns a property. There can sometimes be multiple tenants on a lease. In this situation, these tenants are known as co-tenants.
Often if you are a tenant, you will deal directly with a real estate agent rather than the landlord. The real estate agent acts as a representative of the landlord. Where we talk about landlords below, remember that the agent can act on the landlord’s behalf.
There are some other types of living arrangements which don’t fit into these categories, like living in share houses, sub-lets, boarding rooms, or in student accommodation. We have a separate page on this that you can read here.
Yes, you can rent if you are under 18. Contracts cannot generally be enforced against someone who is under 18, however there is an exception for contracts which are for your benefit, which can include employment contracts or a contract for “necessaries” (which includes things like food, clothing and accommodation)
However, a landlord may reject your application if they have reasonable concerns that you may not be able to pay the rent. If you think a landlord has discriminated against you because of your age, you can contact us for legal advice here.
To maximise your chances of your application being accepted, you could include these things with your application:
It is not illegal to move out of home before you are 18, but if you do, your parents might ask you to come home since they have a responsibility to look after you, including by making you have a safe place to live while you are under 18. If you are looking for information about leaving home, you can look at our webpage on moving out.
Tenants and landlords can enter into either written or verbal rental agreements. We recommend getting a written agreement, so that everyone is clear about the terms of the agreement.
If your rental agreement is for a specific period, like 6 or 12 months, this is known as a fixed-term lease. If your rental agreement has a start date but no end date, this is known as a periodic, rolling or month to month lease.
There are different rules for ending a rental agreement depending on whether you are on a fixed-term or periodic lease. If you are looking for information about ending a lease, you can check out our webpage on leaving a rental.
| Written residential rental agreements must use the form on the Consumer Affairs Victoria website: Residential rental agreements – Consumer Affairs Victoria. These forms follow the Victorian tenancy laws. |
A bond is money that you pay at the start of a tenancy to cover any problems that might come up during your lease. Your landlord is allowed to ask you to pay a bond at the start of your tenancy, and they generally do. The bond covers some of the costs that a landlord may have to pay when you move out if there is a dispute around damage or cleaning.
In most cases, the bond amount is capped at one month’s rent for weekly rent up to $900 a week. However, your landlord can ask for a higher bond where the weekly went for the property is more than $900 or VCAT has set a higher bond for the property due to the character of the property or the quality of the fittings and furniture. Your landlord must lodge your bond with the Residential Tenancies Bond Authority within 10 days.
| Bonds can be expensive. If you cannot afford to pay a bond, you may be able to borrow the money as an interest-free bond loan from the Victorian Government: RentAssist bond loan | Housing.vic.gov.au
Sometimes support services can also provide bond assistance. Search Ask Izzy for organisations that can provide bond or rent help. |
A guarantor is a person who promises to pay rent or the cost of repairing damages if you cannot pay. A guarantor can be a parent or guardian.
If you have paid or have to pay a bond, the landlord cannot make you get a guarantor.
If you have not paid a bond or you are not required to pay a bond, the landlord can ask you for a guarantor. In most cases, the guarantor will be responsible for costs if there is a dispute with your landlord for up to 1 month’s rent (just like bond), except if the weekly rent is over $900 a week, in which case it is unlimited.
Yes, it is important that you fill out a condition report. A condition report sets out the state of repair and general condition of the property when you start a lease. It must be given to you before you move into the property, and you must return a signed copy within 5 business days of moving in.
The condition report can be used as important evidence of the state of repair or general condition of the property at the start of the lease if there is any dispute around getting your bond back, or who is responsible for damage.
| We recommend you take your own photos of the property when you move in even if the landlord or real estate agent have provided photos. Make sure to date and label each photo and store them somewhere safe, like in an album on your phone or laptop. You can also attach the photos to the condition report when you give the signed copy back. |
The landlord can ask for a holding fee or holding deposit for a property, but it must be refunded once an agreement is signed. Otherwise, if no lease is signed after 14 days, the holding fee must be refunded the next business day.
Landlords can also ask for rent in advance, but this is limited to up to 2 weeks rent for weekly rent payments or up to 1 month otherwise. If your rent is over $900, this limit does not apply.
Landlords cannot charge fees for holding an inspection, preparing a rental agreement, providing an original key, issuing a rent payment card, or setting up or using direct debit or other electronic rent payments. Landlords also cannot include a charge for late rent payments.
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