Rooming Accommodation

A Multi Occ is a purpose built rooming house. But what exactly is a rooming house?

The Residential Tenancies Act 1997 defines a Rooming House as a residence where one or more rooms are available for occupancy, when rent is paid and four or more unrelated people live in the building. Tenants can rent a room on an exclusive basis for 6 - 12 months. Meaning, you can have each tenant on their own separate long term lease and rent each room out individually.

The difference between Rooming House and Boarding House

A rooming house is not to be confused with a boarding house. Rooming is a standard residential house containing 4-9 bedrooms that are certified 1B compliant and are approved/registered with council to allow for multiple tenancy agreements. Each council has different regulations for rooming houses. For example, parts of Queensland and Victoria recognise rooming as a different building class to that of a boarding house. Whereas NSW doesn’t have any provisions for rooming houses, just boarding houses.

What types of rooming accommodation are not covered under the Act?

If the provider/agent lives on the premises and there are not more than three rooms available for occupation (or occupied) by residents, then the Act does not apply.

The following types of rooming accommodation are also not covered by the Act:

• aged care accommodation supplied by an approved provider under the Aged Care Act 1997 (Commonwealth)

• accommodation provided at an authorised mental health service under the Mental Health Act 2000

• accommodation provided in a private hospital under a licence in force under the Private Health Facilities Act 1999

• accommodation provided to holiday makers or travellers e.g. backpacker hostel

• accommodation provided under the Supported Accommodation Assistance Program (SAAP)

• accommodation provided under funding given by, or in premises owned by, Aboriginal Hostels Limited ACN 008 504 587

• accommodation for a person at a retirement village under a residence contract under the Retirement Villages Act 1999, or section 70B of the Retirement Villages Act 1999

• accommodation for school students provided as part of (or under agreement with) a school, or arranged by a school for students of another school, or provided with financial assistance from the education department e.g. boarding school or home stay, or

• accommodation for students within the external boundaries of a university’s campus provided by the university, or by a not-for-profit organisation e.g. college*

*Although exempt from the Act, if a rental bond is paid for on-campus rooming accommodation, the provisions about rental bonds apply and all bond monies must be lodged with the RTA. See the Rental bonds fact sheet for more information.

What rules apply to rooming accommodation?

The rules applying to rooming accommodation such as boarding houses, hostels and off-campus student accommodation are specified in the Act. The Act states what terms apply to a resident’s stay and these must be included in the Rooming accommodation agreement.

Under the Act, a provider/agent has the opportunity to decide whether they want the rooming accommodation rules to apply or whether they would prefer to opt in to the rules that apply to tenants and lessors/agents in general tenancies such as houses, units and flats. Providers/agents should consider whether the different rules would positively or negatively affect the running of their business. If the provider/agent and resident agree to be covered under the general tenancy rules, they should use a General tenancy agreement (Form 18a) and follow the notice periods and other rules that apply to general tenancies. Refer to the RTA’s booklet Pocket guide for tenants - houses and units (Form 17a) for more information.

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