Renting Vacant Properties

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Where to start?

Real Estate Agents

Costs

Leases

Bond Assistance

Condition Report

Utility Connections

Household Furnishings

Repairs

Privacy

Moving Out

Looking for accommodation? Start here!
The best place to start when looking for accommodation is the Swinburne University Housing Database. This database lists shared houses, vacant properties and boarding opportunities that have been registered at each campus.

"The Age" and "The Sun-Herald" newspapers are the next best places to start looking for vacant houses, flats, units or share accommodation. "The Age" and "The Sun-Herald" are daily publications but Wednesdays and Saturdays are the two main days for listings and you should look under the Real Estate section. You can also access these listings online - check out our helpful websites page for details. The local paper in your area is also another option. These publications come out weekly and in all cases you need to look under the "To Let" section or the "Share Accommodation" section.

Real Estate Agents
Should you decide to apply to rent a vacant flat, unit or house through a real estate agent, there is a range of issues you need to be aware of. We have outlined some of these in this section. If you are searching on line, check out our real estate agents page to find an agent near your campus.

When you are ready to inspect properties that you have seen on a real estate listing, you will need to leave a $50 key deposit, which is returned to you when you hand the key back. We have recently heard that some agents are imposing a one hour time limit on the return of the key so you will need to clarify this with the agent. Ask for additional time if you need it. It is a good idea to wear neat casual clothes and have a street directory with you so you can find your way around.

You will need to fill in an application form that contains a range of personal details and you will be required to supply the names and contact details of up to three referees. When assessing your application, the main thing an agent is usually interested in is your financial circumstances and your ability to pay the rent. Those of you with no rental history may have to supply written proof of your financial means and your ability to actually pay the rent each month.

Costs
Students are often surprised how much money is required to start up their own property. Most real estate agents/landlords will require you to sign a twelve month lease the first time you rent a property. It is standard practice that you pay one month’s rent in advance and a bond equivalent to one month’s rent when you first move in. For example, for a two bedroom unit costing $180 per week, this would mean an initial outlay of A$1,560 ($780 for one month's rent in advance and $780 for bond).

Rent is calculated pcm - per calendar month. You can work this out by multiplying the weekly rent by four and then adding one third of one week's rent. This is because a calendar month is slightly over four weeks duration. In the example above $180 per week works out to $780 per calendar month - $180 X 4 + $60 = $780. {$60 being one third of one week's rent}. Please note that February is still charged per calendar month even though the month has only 28 or 29 days.

Also remember that most vacant properties are just that - vacant! This means you will need furnishings such as a fridge, TV, lounge suite, bed and a variety of other essential items and this can add several hundred dollars to your start up expenses.

Leases
As mentioned previously, the first time you rent a property you are normally required to sign a twelve month lease. Once the twelve months is up, it automatically reverts to a periodic 28 day lease. A lease is a legally binding written or verbal agreement that you will pay rent and be responsible for the property for a specified period of time.

It is important to realise that a lease is a legal contract and should only be signed if you are reasonably sure you will remain a tenant for that period of time. Please consider this very carefully as breaking a lease can be very costly. Never sign an agreement if you are unsure what it means and always get a receipt for any money you hand over.

A twelve month lease often doesn't suit students, especially International students who may want to return home at the end of the academic year or who may only be here for a six month exchange programme or English Language course. There is nothing in the legislation that states a twelve month lease must be undertaken when first renting a property, it has just become the established practice. If twelve months doesn't suit you, you should try and negotiate a length of time that does suit.

If you move into a vacant place, you and the other tenants must all sign the lease. The landlord or agent has a legal right to know who will be living in the property and can legally evict you if they find out extra people are living there whose names are not on the lease.

As a tenant it is extremely important to know your rights and responsibilities and what the landlord is responsible for doing. The Housing Advisers have copies of booklets that outline your rights and responsibilities as a tenant and can give you a copy. You can also check out the Tenants Union of Victoria web site www.tuv.org.au as there is a wide variety of information and resources available there. They have a section devoted to student accommodation that can be accessed from their home page.

Bond Assistance
If you cannot afford to pay the bond on the property you wish to rent you may be eligible for Bond Assistance from the Office of Housing. The amount you can borrow depends on the number of bedrooms in the property. The current maximum for a one bedroom flat is $520. You must meet certain eligibility requirements to receive assistance. For example, your share of the rent should be less than 55% of your gross weekly income, a single person's income should not exceed $315 per week and his/her assets cannot exceed $1,300 in value.

You can find out more information and download application forms from the Office of Housing website, click on the link titled "Assistance" then "getting help if you're renting privately". There are also links to your nearest Office of Housing. The Housing Adviser at your Swinburne campus should also have application forms.

Condition Report
The Condition Report is another important document you will be given by the landlord or agent after signing the lease. It clearly states what, if any, damage was done to the property before you lived there. It goes through the entire property and covers, for example, the state of the walls and carpets, and will be a vital report for when you move out so you can easily verify what damage was done before you lived there.

You can make any additional comments on the state of the property that the landlord or agent hasn’t noted and you can also take photos of the property to show its overall state of cleanliness. You will normally be given two or three working days to check the condition of the property against the condition report before returning it to the agent.

Once you have paid the rent in advance and the bond, signed the lease and completed the Condition Report, you should have the following documents:

Utility Connections
It is your responsibility to arrange the connection of accounts in your name for the water, gas, electricity and phone. The following information is current as at June 2006.

Telephone
Contact Telstra (Phone 13 2200)

If the residence has had a phone before and therefore has an existing connection point, there is a connection fee of $59 (can be connected in approx 1 hour). If the residence has never had a phone before and needs to be wired and a connection point installed, two weeks notice is required and the connection fee will be $209. To have an additional socket installed (to use as a fax number, or for a modem) the cost is $220 for the first 15 minutes and $15.00 for every 15 minutes additional labour, plus materials.

Water
Prahran and Wantirna - Contact South East Water (Phone: 13 1851)
Hawthorn, Croydon and Lilydale - Contact Yarra Valley Water Ltd. (Phone 13 1695)
There is no connection fee but three days notice is required.

Gas
Hawthorn, Prahran, Croydon and Lilydale - Contact: Origin Energy (Phone 132 461)
Wantirna: AGL (Phone 132 692)

Unless the previous tenant has left unpaid bills, the gas is not turned off when they leave. If it is turned off, two full working days are needed to reconnect. There is no connection fee but a meter reading is required when a new tenant moves in. This can be done by a customer service officer which can take a couple of days or the new tenant can read the meter themselves and arrange a change of customer name over the phone.

Electricity
Hawthorn and Prahran - Origin Energy (Phone 13 2461)
Croydon, Wantirna and Lilydale - Contact TRU (Phone 13 3466)

The connection fee is generally around $20-$30, however if a person has a Health Care Card or in receipt of a pension, the connection is free. Preferably one day’s notice is needed for connection.

Household Furnishings
So you have finally found somewhere to live! If you’ve moved into an unfurnished flat, unit or house, your expenses have not stopped just yet. Even though you have had to pay the rent and bond, you now need to start thinking about furniture, bedding and appliances.

The following may be useful when trying to find some bargains:

Repairs
You do not have to pay for repairs unless you or your guests actually cause the damage. Repairs are divided into two categories - urgent and general.

Urgent Repairs
Urgent repairs include a serious roof leak, a gas leak, flooding or flood damage, or a blocked or broken toilet. Following the recent changes in water charges, if anything is wrong with water fittings/fixtures and a ‘substantial amount’ of water is being wasted, these are deemed ‘urgent repair’. You must try to contact the landlord to request repairs. The landlord or their agent has a duty to provide you with a telephone number for use in case urgent repairs are needed. If you can’t contact them or they don’t act quickly, you can get the repairs done yourself up to a cost of $1,000.

Keep the invoice or receipt and notify the landlord in writing what you have done. They must pay you back within 14 days of you giving the notice. If the landlord doesn’t pay you back, you will need to get the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal to order them to do so.

If you can’t afford to pay for repairs or they will cost more than $1,000 you can apply to the Residential Tenancies Tribunal for an urgent hearing. The Tribunal can order the landlord to do the repairs and you can request that your rent be paid into a special account so that the landlord doesn’t receive it until the repairs are finished.

General Repairs
If repairs are not covered by the "Urgent Repairs" definition, you should not arrange to have them done unless the landlord has given written consent and agreed to pay for the costs in writing.

Examples of general repairs are: broken cupboards, peeling wallpaper, internal doors that don’t shut properly or rubbish in the garden left by previous tenants. To get these types of repairs fixed you should give the landlord fourteen days written notice that non-urgent repairs are needed (keeping a copy for yourself). This notice can be a letter or a Notice to Landlord form. The landlord has fourteen days to do the work and, if the repairs are not completed in that time, you can contact Consumer and Business Affairs on (03) 9627-600 (www.consumer.vic.gov.au). An officer will arrange to come out and assess your situation and can issue an order to make the landlord do the work.

Privacy
When renting, you are legally entitled to "quiet enjoyment" of your home. This means that regular or unannounced visits from the landlord or agent or anyone acting on their behalf are against the law. Landlords must give 24 hours notice of their intention to visit and tell you why they are doing so. The landlord may enter the premises without your presence provided proper notice of the exact time is given.

Moving Out
When you decide it’s time to move out, there are some important things you must do.