The rent in a rooming house cannot be increased more than once every 12 months.
The rooming house operator must give the resident at least 60 days’ notice to increase the rent, using the Notice of rent increase to resident/s of rooming house (Word, 753KB). The notice can only provide for one rent increase.
If the resident thinks the rent has been put up by too much they can challenge the rent increase and ask us to investigate whether the proposed increase is too much.
Rent can also decrease in a rooming house. Operators must reduce the rent if they:
The resident can challenge the rent if they think it is still too high even after it has been reduced.
Delivering a notice
The notice must be delivered by:
- post
- electronic communication (such as email), if the resident has given consent to receive notices and other documents this way
- hand (giving the notice personally to the resident).
If posting, allow for mail delivery times, which depend on:
- your delivery method
- where you’re mailing your notice from.
It is important to allow enough time for mail to be delivered if you are posting the notice. The Australia Post website can help calculate delivery times. If you think you might need proof that you’ve sent the notice you can use registered post.
Increased rent for additional services
If a resident asks for more services, the rooming house operator can increase the rent to provide those services. The resident and operator must both sign a written agreement that states:
- the services that will be provided
- the amount of the increase
- when the resident has to start paying additional rent.
The operator does not have to give the resident notice for this kind of increase.
What is a rooming house
A rooming house is a building where 4 or more people can live in rented rooms, some of which might be shared.
The rooming house is managed by a rooming house operator and individual residents usually have separate agreements with the operator.
The operator can decide who can live in the property without consulting the residents.
In most rooming houses, residents share bathrooms, kitchens, laundries and other common areas. The rooming house operator and their family do not usually live in the property.
It is different to a share house, where everyone signs the same agreement.
You can read more about rooming house rental agreements.
If you are in a share house and want to know about rent increases see rent increases in a residential agreement.
Forms you might need
To give a resident notice of a rent increase, use this form:
Sections of the Act
If you want to know what the law says about rent increases in a rooming house, you can read these sections of the Residential Tenancies Act 1997:
- Section 101 – How much notice of rent increase is required
- Section 102 – Resident may complain to Director about excessive rent
- Section 102A – Director may investigate rent without application by resident.