There are different kinds of share houses, and sometimes, these come with different rules. Here, we explain the difference between share houses and sub-letting, and we also cover some of the laws that apply to university accommodation.
If you are thinking of moving into a share house, check out our guide to starting a tenancy. We also have guides on your rights in a tenancy, and leaving a tenancy.
Hopefully we have answered your question! But if not, you can contact us here for free legal advice if you are under 25.
Sub-renting (or sub-letting) is when a renter (head-tenant) rents part of the property to another person (sub-tenant). The original renter (head-tenant) is still responsible for the lease with the landlord.
Sub-renting differs from a transfer, where an existing rental agreement is transferred to another person, and from co-renting, where all renters are on the rental agreement.
| Subletting Example:
Sarah rents an apartment on a one-year lease. After six months, she needs to go abroad for a three-month internship. Instead of breaking her lease, Sarah decides to sublet her apartment. She finds Tom, who agrees to live in the apartment and pay the rent for those three months. In this scenario, Tom pays the rent to Sarah, and Sarah continues to pay the landlord. Sarah is still responsible for the apartment and the lease agreement, and Tom does not deal directly with the landlord.
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Co-Renting Example:
Sarah and her friend Jane are looking for an apartment together. They find one they like, and both sign the rental agreement with the landlord. This means both Sarah and Jane are equally responsible for paying the rent and looking after the apartment. Both of their names are on the lease, and they each have a direct relationship with the landlord.
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| In subletting, the original tenant (like Sarah) keeps their responsibility under the lease and rents out the property to someone else (like Tom), who pays rent to the tenant, not directly to the landlord.
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In co-renting, everyone living in the house (like Sarah and Jane) sign the lease with the landlord and they share responsibilities. |
If you are renting part of the property (like a bedroom) from a tenant and your name is not on the main agreement with the landlord, you may be a sub-tenant. The tenant you are renting from is known as the head tenant.
Head tenants and sub-tenants have different legal rights and responsibilities. In this arrangement, the head tenant takes on the responsibilities of the landlord for sub-tenants because only the head-tenant is on the lease agreement with the landlord. A sub-tenant may have a written agreement with the head-tenant to put the sub-letting agreement in writing.
To sublet a rental property, you must get the landlord’s written consent, or an order from VCAT. Subletting without the landlord’s consent may result in the sublet being invalid and you receiving a 14-day notice to vacate.
If you are the head tenant, you need to get the landlord’s written consent to sub-let the property.[1] Once you have this consent, you assume the role of a landlord for your sub-tenant, which means you have certain duties and responsibilities. We recommend that you have a written agreement in place.
Sub-letting gives the sub-tenant exclusive possession of part, or all of the property. If the agreement does not do this, it may not be considered a subletting arrangement. If this applies to you, it might be a good idea to get some advice about your situation.
If you are the sub-tenant, you have similar rights and responsibilities as other tenants. This means that the same laws apply to sub-tenants as they do to other renters, including things like notice to vacate, rent increases, and property maintenance. You can read more about these rights and responsibilities this here.
A head tenant can ask the sub-renter to pay a bond. The head tenant must lodge the bond with the Residential Tenancies Bond Authority (RTBA) within 10 business days. The head tenant must be registered with the RTBA as an ‘Individual landlord’ to lodge the bond. At the end of your tenancy agreement, you can then apply to get the bond back as normal.
You can read more about being a sub-renter here.
A sub-tenant can report any needed repairs to the head tenant, who is responsible for arranging repairs with the landlord.
As a sub-tenant, you have the same rights under the Residential Tenancies Act as any other renter. You can read more about your rights if repairs are needed here.
If there is a dispute between a head tenant and sub-tenant, you should first attempt to try and resolve the dispute between yourselves (if safe to do so). It is a good idea to have a record of these conversations in writing just in case the dispute is escalated to VCAT. Disputes between sub-tenants and head-tenants can be decided by VCAT, but VCAT cannot deal with disputes between co-renters.
Mediation through the Dispute Settlement Centre of Victoria is an option for resolving disputes, but all parties must agree to participate. For information on mediation, see this website.
If the sub-tenant wishes to leave the sub-letting agreement early and end the tenancy agreement before the fixed-term end date, the sub-tenant will be responsible for certain costs so that the head-tenant is not out of pocket. You do not have to pay a penalty fee for breaking the lease.
You can read more about how to end a tenancy agreement here.
If the head tenant wants to leave a lease early, it has the same rights and obligations towards the sub-tenant as a landlord would with a tenant. This means the head-tenant 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 (you can find this here).
You can read more about the landlord ending a tenancy agreement here.
A bond can only be paid in whole to the RTBA by one of the co-tenants. Co-renters may choose to pay an equal share of the bond; however, this is a privately negotiated arrangement between co-renters.
If someone moves out and another person moves in as a co-tenant, they must transfer the bond from the outgoing party to the incoming party within 5 days of the new person moving in. This is important because at the end of the rental agreement, the RTBA will only release the bond if all the renters on the agreement can complete the bond claim.
If a dispute arises between co-tenants about the return of the bond at the end of the co-tenancy, VCAT can make a decision about this issue.
If you disagree with your co-tenants about rental arrangements, such as about bills, responsibilities over the property or details in the rental agreement, you should try to work it out together. Co-tenant responsibilities to each other are not covered by law which means that you cannot apply to Consumer Affairs Victoria or VCAT (as you may with other rental disputes) to resolve a dispute between each other.
To avoid problems and prevent conflict, you may choose to prepare a written agreement setting out each tenant’s responsibilities for:
Setting clear expectations and maintaining open and regular communication, can help to prevent or resolve many co-tenant disputes.
If you are unable to resolve a dispute between you and your co-tenants, we suggest reaching out to a neutral third party, such as a mediator, to help you reach an agreement (and it’s always a good idea to make sure an agreement is in writing). However, your co-tenants cannot be forced to attend a mediation if they don’t want to. See the Dispute Settlement Centre of Victoria for more details about free independent mediation services.
If you would like some specific help or advice on this topic, please contact us here.
Co-tenants who are named on a rental agreement are jointly responsible under that agreement. This means that if the landlord suffers loss or damage, and wants to claim money from the renters, they can start a claim against all the co-tenants listed in the rental agreement.
If you move out of a share house before the end of a rental agreement, and your name is still on the rental agreement as a co-tenant, you will continue to be responsible under that agreement, even if you no longer live at the property. This could mean you can be held responsible for any outstanding rent, or for any loss or damage to the property.
For this reason, we recommend preparing a written agreement with your co-tenants setting out each tenant’s responsibility for giving notice.
If you or one of your co-tenants chooses to leave the tenancy early, it’s important to transfer the lease to the remaining tenants or any new tenants and remove yourself from the rental agreement. This is known as an “assignment” or a “lease transfer”. For more information, see Tenants Victoria’s page on Lease transfers and subletting.
Once your name is formally removed from the rental agreement, your responsibility for the property ends on that date. However, if you caused significant damage and the remaining renters had to pay to fix the damage, they may be able to take legal action against you to recover the money.
A landlord can only ask renters to leave the property before the end date of the rental agreement in select circumstances by giving a “notice to vacate”. These circumstances include:
A landlord can also ask renters to leave the property after the end of the rental agreement for any of the following reasons, so long as sufficient evidence is provided:
For a full list of the circumstances in which a landlord can ask renters to leave a property, see Consumer Affairs Victoria’s “Notice to vacate in rental properties page”.
If you do not vacate the property after receiving notice, your landlord can apply to VCAT for an eviction or possession order, which can be enforced by police.
If you believe notice wasn’t given properly or you disagree with the reason given on the notice (including because of family violence), you can challenge the notice to vacate by applying to VCAT.
If you would like some specific help or advice on this topic, please contact us here.
If you are experiencing family or personal violence within a share house, you can apply to VCAT to change your rental agreement, even if you are not named on the lease but living at the property as your principal place of residence.
You can ask VCAT to make an order that:
For further information, please check out Consumer Affairs Victoria’s page “Changing the rental agreement because of family violence”.
There are a couple of other kinds of housing that young people might live in (without owning a property).
The Residential Tenancies Act 1997 (Vic) (the main laws on rental properties in Victoria) does not apply to any rental agreement for a room or rented premises affiliated with a school or university, which includes university accommodation.
Your rights and responsibilities in your university accommodation will be set out in the written agreement between you and the student accommodation provider.
If you would like some specific help or advice on this topic, please contact us here. Many universities have student legal services that may also be able to help for free.
A rooming house, or boarding house, is accommodation where one or more rooms are for rent and the total number of people who can reside in the property is four or more. In rooming or boarding houses, the residents usually share facilities like kitchens and bathrooms. In some places, the bedrooms may also be shared.
Different laws apply to boarding houses, but you do still have some rights if you are living in this kind of housing. These rights include minimum standards of accommodation relating to privacy, security, safety and amenity. For more information, see Consumer Affairs Victoria’s “Rooming house residents” guide, which you can access here: Rooming house residents guide – Consumer Affairs Victoria.
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