Finding accommodation in Australia

Chapter 4 of 6

Most WHV holders who settle down for a few months (or even the whole year!) in one city usually rent an apartment or a room in a shared house.

Renting in Australia is fairly straightforward, with less red tape than in many countries. For instance, you don’t need a guarantor—but beware, you’ll be promptly evicted if you miss a payment.

Note that rent is often quoted weekly in the ads, because it’s usually paid weekly or biweekly (except in Victoria, where it tends to be paid monthly). By law, in a few states, you can’t be asked for more than two weeks’ rent in advance, unless there’s a written agreement between the landlord and the tenant.

Rent can be paid in cash (make sure you get a receipt) or by direct debit (which is easier to track).

Renting vs. sharing a house vs. sharing a bedroom

Most WHV holders don’t rent a whole apartment because it’s too expensive. Rather, they rent a room in a shared house, which is a much cheaper option. In many smaller cities, houses can be quite big and you probably don’t need that much room. In large cities, living with roommates is the best way to keep costs down.

Renting a room is also easier on many levels because it implies fewer responsibilities:

• You don’t have to sign a long lease
• You don’t have to furnish the house (you may need to buy furniture for your room, or you may find a furnished room to rent)
• You don’t have to take care of many apartment maintenance tasks

Although many rental laws apply in all states and territories, each one has its own set of tenant-landlord rules. Make sure you get the information relevant to where you live:

• Renting a place to live in New South Wales (including in Sydney)
• Renting in Victoria (including in Melbourne)
• Residential tenancies authority in Queensland (including in Brisbane and Cairns)
• Tenant guide renting a home in Western Australia (including in Perth)
• Renting in South Australia (including in Adelaide)
• Renting in Tasmania (including in Hobart)
• Residential tenancies in the Northern Territory (including Darwin)

Living with roommates is commonplace in Australia. Even in big cities like Melbourne or Sydney, the typical property is a multi-bedroom house, often with a backyard. Like hostel life, house sharing is a way to keep costs down and meet people from all over the world, but you will get more privacy and stability than staying in a dorm, and it can be cheaper in the long term.

Those who really want to stretch their budget may even share a bedroom in a shared house. The rent won’t be exactly twice as cheap, but the rent will be lower than having a room to yourself. Most of the time, people who share a room only use it to sleep. If your roommate has a completely different schedule, you may be able to enjoy a bit more privacy.

Types of rental agreements

Tenancy agreement: You’re the only person on the lease and you sign a fixed-term rental agreement—after that, it can roll over to a periodic-term agreement (i.e. month-to-month lease). You’re responsible for taking care of the property and for rent payments.

Co-tenancy (also called “joint tenancy”): Each tenant signs the lease and all tenants are equally responsible for paying rent and taking care of the property. A tenant may generally transfer the lease to a new tenant, as long as the landlord doesn’t object.

Subletting (also called “sub-tenancy”): In this type of arrangement, someone rents the property and, in turn, rents out part or all of it to another person or people. The person or people named on the lease are the “lead or head tenants” and those renting from them are “subtenants.” Subtenants pay their rent to the lead tenant.

If you’re subletting, make sure that the lead tenant has written permission from the landlord. Otherwise, you may be served a notice to vacate the property and won’t have any protection, because it’s the lead tenants named on the lease, not the subtenants.

Holiday letting: This type of agreement is popular in several Australian states. You usually rent an entire furnished property for a three-month term maximum. These are usually booked through websites like Airbnb rather than signing a lease directly with the landlord.

Rooming or boarding houses: A boarding house is a building where one or more rooms are available to rent, and three to five people in total (depending on the state/territory) can occupy those rooms. The house is usually furnished and residents share bathrooms, kitchens, laundry and other common areas. Most of the time, boarding houses must be declared as such to the relevant housing authority. A number of requirements must be met, such as minimum room size, fire alarms, equipment, etc.

Sharing a bedroom is also an option, as explained above. You won’t get to choose your roommates but the lease you will sign is usually very flexible, without a minimum fixed-term lease. The minimum notice you give as an occupant can be only 28 days (four weeks), but note that notice from the landlord to end your lease is also pretty short.

Different rules apply to boarding house leases, which are considered differently from typical lease agreements.

Fixed-term agreement vs. periodic-term agreement

A fixed-term tenancy only lasts for a set amount of time, e.g. six months, one year, etc. The amount of time must be specified on the tenancy agreement. Once the lease is over, you can sign another fixed-term tenancy or roll into a periodic-term tenancy (which is a more flexible option; usually, only one month’s notice is required). An official document is filled (bond form) and the money is deposited in an approved “bond trust” managed by each state government or approved financial institutions.

A periodic tenancy is one that continues until either the tenant or the landlord gives written notice to end it.

Rental bonds and rent in advance

You should be asked for a bond (deposit), which is financial protection for the landlord in case there’s a breach of the lease agreement. The bond amount is specified in the lease document and the maximum varies from state to state, but the equivalent of four weeks’ rent is common practice. Your rental bond will be released at the end of your tenancy, where you may receive a full refund (or a partial one in case of damages).

At the start of the tenancy, you may also be asked to pay two weeks’ or one month’s rent in advance, depending on the type of lease agreement and the rules in that state/territory.

State or territory	Typical amount of the bond	Maximum rent in advance
New South Wales	4 weeks’ rent	2 weeks
Victoria	4 weeks’ rent (when rent is less than $950/week)	4 weeks (unless rent is paid weekly—then it should be 2 weeks)
Western Australia	4 weeks’ rent (when rent is less than $1200/week)	2 weeks
Queensland	4 weeks’ rent (when rent is less than $700/week)	1 month for fixed-term agreements/2 weeks for periodic-term agreements and boarding house leases
South Australia	4 weeks’ rent (when rent is less than $800/week)	2 weeks
Northern Territory	4 weeks’ rent	One rental payment period*
Tasmania	4 weeks’ rent	2 weeks

*For instance, if you pay rent weekly, the rental payment period is one week; if you pay rent biweekly, it’s two weeks, etc.

Where can I find a share house/room?

Browse the following specialised websites for ads:

• Gumtree is one of the most popular free classified ads websites. Go to Real Estate, then filter by “Flatshare & houseshare” or “Roomshare”, depending on your needs.
• Flatmates.com.au specialises in shared accommodation, where renters and landlords can post an ad for free.
• Flatmates finders and Roomgo are other services where you can search for accommodation or flatmates to team up with.

Facebook groups are also a great way to find local and current opportunities. You may want to start with the following:

Sydney 

• Sydney Flatmates/House share/Roomshare/Accommodation
• Sydney Houses, Rooms, Rentals
• Shared flat, rooms, sublet, accommodation Sydney
• Sydney Rooms for Rent
• Find a room/flat/house and a job in Sydney
• Sydney rent rooms & apartments (Flatmates and neighbors)

Melbourne

• Fairy floss real estate
• Melbourne Rooms for rent
• Melbourne houses, rooms, rentals
• Roompik

Brisbane

• Brisbane Houses, Rooms, Rentals
• Rent a Room in Brisbane – House/Property/Home/Flat/Apartment/Accommodation
• Brisbane Rent a room/house/apartment/flat/accommodation
• BRISBANE Australia Travel Community
• Roommates & Flatmates Brisbane

Perth

• Perth Houses, Rooms, Rentals
• Perth Houseshare/Flatshare/Room for rent
• Perth Flatmate Hub
• Perth Houseshare / Flatshare / Room for rent / Flatmates by Roompik

Adelaide

• Adelaide South Australia Accommodation – Flatshare / Houseshare / Roomshare
• Rooms for Rent Adelaide
• Adelaide for Rent
• ADELAIDE Australia Travel Community

Darwin 

• Darwin Houses, Rooms, Rentals
• Darwin Accommodation for Rent
• Darwin Sales, Rentals & Lease Breaks
• Darwin Rentals, Lease Breaks, Homes 4 Sale and Shared Accommodation

Hobart

• Hobart Rentals, Tas
• Hobart Houses, Rooms, Rentals
• Rental accommodation – Hobart, Tasmania

Don’t hesitate to ask around and spread the word that you’re looking for a room, even before leaving Australia. Friends and relatives may know someone Down Under!

Finally, you can also consider using a real estate agent. Landlords hire them to find tenants for their rental property and usually pay them the equivalent of two weeks’ rent. The service is free to you, as a tenant.

However, the rent may be slightly higher to cover the cost of using a real estate agent, and the lease offered may be harder to break (because presumably, the landlord doesn’t want to pay a real estate agent over and over again to find a new tenant).

When should I start looking for a place?

It depends on your plans, but if you know you’re going to settle down in a specific city as soon as you arrive, you can start browsing ads to get a feel for the market. However, we don’t recommend committing to a lease from abroad—there are many rental scams, so you could lose the money you send or end up in a place that looks nothing like the ad pictures.

A few months or weeks before the trip, check out the ads online or in Facebook groups to help you budget for accommodation. Don’t contact landlords and potential roommates—who usually want to fill the vacancy as soon as possible—but gather info on the rental market and the various neighbourhoods you may enjoy as a future resident.

A few days before flying to Australia, you can contact landlords and arrange to visit the property. Again, if you’re asked for a deposit before seeing the place, run away—it’s probably a scam.