Rental regulations put sharehouse tenants at constant risk, new research reveals

Sharehouse renters are at a constant financial and housing risk as Victoria’s rental regulations fail to reflect the reality of today’s housing landscape, new Swinburne research reveals.

Joining a household, paying rent, finding new housemates, and exiting a tenancy often forces tenants to engage in complex decision-making shaped by trust, household relationships, and their own capabilities. 

This can leave renters paying unfair sums or put them at increased chance of eviction.

Lead author, Zoë Goodall from Swinburne’s Housing, Homelessness and Urban Studies research group, says that rental regulations are not designed for share-housing. 

“Share-housing is relatively common in Australia but often overlooked or not considered important,” she says.

 “People live in share-housing for many reasons, including to save money in a cost-of-living crisis and because they want to live with others. But sometimes these reasons actually leave them paying more money and making difficult decisions based on relationships with other housemates. 

“Even though family households are far more common, it is still important that share-house renters don’t face unnecessary risks due to policy that doesn’t ‘fit’.”

The Swinburne research team interviewed sharehouse renters in Victoria to discover how they navigate the risks that can be caused by rental regulations. 

They found that navigating risks can mean shifting them onto other renters.

“In a context of inadequate policy for share-housing, risk is like a hot potato that renters throw and catch, a pattern that will affect people with the least power and privilege,” Goodall says. 

“For example, if one housemate doesn’t or can’t pay rent, the other housemates have to cover for them financially or the whole household risks being evicted. Whether people decide to cover the non-paying housemate or ask them to move out is a difficult decision influenced by friendship, trust, and their own financial capacity.

“Or, when a housemate moves out, the remaining renter(s) might have to pay extra rent until they can find a new housemate. This produces a financial risk, but making a hasty decision on a new housemate can also create risk if the new person is difficult (or even dangerous) to live with.”  

To solve this issue, Goodall recommends updating rental regulation to fit share-housing, which has been done elsewhere in Australia in the ACT.

Her interviews also found sharehouses seek tailored support services, such as help with problematic housemates and a ‘buffer’ that could cover unpaid rent temporarily to avoid eviction. 

“Tenants’ security should be increased through reducing the risk of eviction, and their safety should be increased by making it easier to leave a bad/unsafe share-house.

“Sharehouse renters have a right to live in housing that is safe and secure.”