FAQ - Housing Providers

Advertising with the Housing Service is free. Go to the website at http://www.swinburne.edu.au/stuserv/housing/index.html , log into Off-Campus Housing Database and go to List a Property. Read the terms and conditions and then begin. You will be required to enter all mandatory fields to have your property accepted on to the database.

If you are offering home away from home (homestay) accommodation you are required to provide certain furnishings and undergo a police check and the Housing Adviser or the International Student Accommodation Officer will organise a time to meet you and inspect the property. Due to time constraints, property inspection for other offers of accommodation is carried out at random. Swinburne University reserves the right inspect your property and also to refuse to advertise any property that does not meet certain basic requirements or where there are repeated complaints about the provider(s).

No. The service is essentially an information exchange. The Housing Adviser does not pre-arrange accommodation for students or match students with providers. Students look at the notice boards and show their Swinburne ID to obtain contact details of the property they are interested in. They will then telephone you directly to discuss the vacancy and if you both feel it is appropriate, you should organise a time to meet each other and for the student to have a look at the room/property. International students wanting home away from home (homestay) accommodation may be able to have their accommodation pre-booked by the International Student Accommodation Officer for their arrival.

This needs to be considered in the context of student income, the type and quality of accommodation you are offering, the location, whether you will include bills and any services you will provide.. A maximum of $250 per week full board (i.e all meals and bills) applies for the home away from home (homestay) arrangement. Share accommodation prices generally fall in the $120-$170 per week range for Hawthorn and Prahran and surrounding areas and $70-$120 per week for Wantirna, Croydon and Lilydale areas. Students are typically on a tight budget and have limited income. Prices above these ranges may not attract many enquiries from students.

This varies from student to student. It is useful if the provider has thought about exactly what they are willing to offer. The criteria by which many students choose their accommodation include price, proximity to campus, security, cleanliness and friendliness of co-tenants or landlords. If your property is within 2-3 kms. of the Swinburne campus, the rent is less than 50% of the student's income, the property is clean and secure, then there is a good chance your vacancy will attract enquiries.

Furniture requirements will vary from student to student. Some students will be happy to provide their own furniture whereas others may expect you to provide it. As mentioned elsewhere people interested in providing home away from home (homestay) accommodation to country and overseas students must provide certain furnishings such as bed, linen, desk, chair, desk lamp, wardrobe and bookshelf before their vacancy can be registered. Local students responding to room only vacancies may well already have their own furniture.

This would vary depending on the particular course the student is undertaking, their progress in the course and their satisfaction with the accommodation arrangements and their financial circumstances. Students new to Melbourne often choose to stay at the Student Residences for the first year or in the home away from home (homestay) arrangement for the first few months or first semester. After that they may want a little more independence and start up their own house or flat with some fellow students. We recommend that the length of stay and length of time required for giving notice to vacate be thoroughly discussed and understood before a student moves in. Use the occupancy agreement as a guide to write things down.

Yes. The majority of overseas students at Swinburne University come from Asian countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, China and India. A much smaller number of students come from European countries, Africa, Middle East and elsewhere. Each year we would have somewhere between 700 to 1,000 new overseas students commence studying at Swinburne. The majority of them are located at our largest campus Hawthorn, a substantial amount also go to Prahran and then much smaller numbers attend Croydon, Wantirna and Lilydale campuses.

Not all international students require accommodation because many of them already live in Victoria prior to commencing their studies and others may have friends and family they can stay with when they first arrive. International students are aware of local prices and costs and work to a budget and expect to pay the same price as locals for their accommodation.

Landlords and real estate agents advertising vacant properties are prohibited by law from specifying these qualities. Owner occupiers or tenants who also reside in the property being advertised can specify any requirements they want of prospective tenants including country of origin, race, religion, age and gender. Some providers have the belief that females or particular cultures may be more polite, quieter and cleaner than males or some other cultures and therefore request female only or female International students only. Like most stereotypes, this belief is not grounded in fact. Everyone's different. You should be aware that by narrowing your preference down to International female students under 25 you are restricting your chances of filling the room. However, for males living on their own, it may be more appropriate to advertise for males only.

Many providers specifically ask about accommodating overseas students, some ask for female Asian students who are willing to do house work or child minding in exchange for a reduction in rent. Experience shows that this type of arrangement is quite often unfair. The value of the work required far exceeds the value of the board offered. Providers interested in providing board in exchange should discuss their requirements with the Housing Adviser first.

A common question raised by providers and landlords concerns how much rent students should pay if they wish to retain the accommodation during holiday breaks when country, interstate and overseas may go back home to be with their families. There are no set rules to cover this situation and it is up to you and the student to decide this. We recommend you discuss this before the student moves in.

As a guide we would recommend that you charge no more than 50% of the normal rent for term and semester holiday periods. Some providers charge much less and some do not charge at all. The long summer break from November through to February is more difficult as some providers cannot afford to lose 50% or more of the rent for three or four months. The decision must be made in the context of the provider being able to fill the vacancy during the holiday period and the needs of the student to secure accommodation for the following year.

If you are advertising a vacant house, flat or unit you should inform yourself about your legal responsibilities with particular reference to the laws on discrimination. Contact Consumer and Business Affairs on 9627-6222 or access their web site www.consumer.vic.gov.au and they can supply you with the relevant information and documents for starting a tenancy. If you rent out four or more rooms to students the Rooming House provisions of the Residential Tenancies Act 1997 may apply. Consumer and Business Affairs could assist with information in this case also. Owner occupied situations where less than four rooms are rented out to students may not be covered by the Residential Tenancies Act 1997.

In the unfortunate instance where a student is injured in your house or where a robbery occurs, your insurance policy may not offer you or the student coverage. We recommend you contact your insurance provider and clarify this issue, some companies may add a small amount onto your premium for coverage.

There are two ways both of which arrive at the same result. The first way is to multiply the weekly rent by four then add one third of one week's rent. For example, for a weekly rent of $90 you would calculate 4 X $90 + $30 to get $390 per calendar month ($30 being one third of one week's rent).

The second way gets the same result, you multiply $90 by 52 (weeks in the year) then divide by 12 (months in the year). $90 X 52 = $4,680 divided by 12 = $390.

You will find some tips on sharing successfully in our section on share accommodation