ROOMING

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Rooming has been around for over a hundred years and can also be referred to as share housing, room sharing or boarding. However, more recently the term rooming has taken a more structural meaning and is now commonly recognised as a new type of tenancy.

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. This means you can have each tenant on their own separate long-term lease and rent each room out individually giving you multiple rental incomes from the same property.

A house leased by several people each under a rooming accommodation agreement is considered several discrete households under the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008.

The National Construction Code (NCC) classifies rooming houses less than 300m² as a Class 1b building. Rooming houses larger than this are classified as a Class 3 building. This classification affects the design, construction, and fire safety requirements for the building. Due to the high cost of a Class 3 building most rooming houses in Australia are less than 300m2.

Tenants can rent a room on a shared or exclusive basis with the exclusive option being the most common arrangement for private operators. Purpose built rooming houses have rooms that typically includes basic furnishings and an ensuite bathroom and the tenant has sole access to that space. However, common areas such as kitchens, laundries and living spaces are shared with other residents.

Some more recent rooming house designs now include rooms that have a private living area and kitchenette in additional to an ensuite bathroom making them self-contained ‘micro units’ meaning tenants only need to share common areas such as laundries.

Under a rooming house arrangement, the landlord typically furnishes all common areas and pays for all utilities, cleaning of common areas and maintenance of outdoor gardens and lawns. This allows the tenant to pay rent that is all inclusive of costs.

In some states, operators of rooming houses must be licensed or registered with the local government. For example, in Victoria, rooming house operators must register with the local council and meet certain minimum standards.

Rooming houses are more commonly built in urban and suburban areas where there is high demand for affordable rental housing, such as near universities, city centres, or areas with good public transport links. In rapidly growing suburban areas, rooming houses can meet the needs of people seeking affordable housing options close to employment hubs or educational institutions.