The Law Handbook 2024

466 Section 6: Houses, communities and the road a co-renter or occupant who is affected by family violence, or who has a personal safety intervention order, to apply to VCAT for an order that ends the existing rental agreement or creates a new agreement in their name without the perpetrator (s 91V RT Act) (see ‘Family and personal violence applications to VCAT to terminate or create new rental agreements’, below). These provisions also allow for the apportionment of outstanding liabilities, including rent arrears, unpaid utility bills and other forms of damage or loss. For further assistance, see Tenants Victoria’s family violence protection tenancy kit, available at www.tenantsvic.org.au/advice/during- your-tenancy/family-violence. Sub-letting Sub-letting involves a renter creating a new rental agreement with another person. To be a sub-rental agreement, the sub-renter must be given exclusive possession of part or all of the premises. The original renter is called the ‘head renter’ and the second renter is called the ‘sub-renter’. The agreement between them is called a sub-rental agreement. Generally, if a renter invites a person to share a premises with them, this does not constitute sub- letting the premises. This person may be a licensee, or in some circumstances a co-renter of the renter. Renters who are considering sub-letting should be aware that they would become the sub-renter’s rental provider. This means that they have the same legal obligations to the sub-renter as their rental provider has to them. These obligations include, for example, providing rent receipts and ensuring repairs are carried out. To make sub-rental agreements, the written consent of the rental provider or an order fromVCAT is required. To end these agreements, the termination provisions in the RT Act must be followed. The use of Airbnb may constitute a licence in some circumstances and a rental agreement in others. For more information about the risks of using Airbnb, see Swan v Uecker [2016] VSC 313 (10 June 2016). For more information, see ‘Sub-letting’, below. Rooming house residents A person living in a rooming house is referred to in the RT Act as a ‘resident’. A rooming house resident is defined as a person who occupies a room in a rooming house as their main residence (s 3). The rights of rooming house residents under the RT Act are different from the rights of renters. It can be difficult to determine whether someone is living in a rooming house, or whether they are a licensee or a boarder. This depends on whether the premises can be defined as a rooming house according to the definition in the RT Act (s 3): [A rooming house is] a building, other than a SDA enrolled dwelling, in which there is one or more rooms available for occupancy on payment of rent: (a) in which the total number of people who may occupy those rooms is not less than four; or (b) in respect of which a declaration under section 19(2) or (3) is in force. The RT Act (s 94) allows a rooming house resident to enter into a rental agreement but only in relation to a self-contained apartment. This may change their rights and duties under the RT Act (s 18). Rooming house operators must hold a licence under the Rooming House Operators Act 2016 (Vic). Rooming houses must also be registered with the relevant local council under the Public Health and Wellbeing Act 2008 (Vic). To check if a rooming house is licensed, see https://registers.consumer. vic.gov.au/rhosearch. To check if a rooming house is registered, see https://registers.consumer.vic.gov. au/rhrsearch. Rooming houses are subject to the health and safety obligations set out in the Public Health and Wellbeing (Prescribed Accommodation) Regulations 2020 (Vic). Rooming houses are also subject to the minimum standards set out in the Residential Tenancies (Rooming House Standards) Regulations 2023 (Vic). Caravan park residents To be covered by the caravan park provisions, a caravan park resident must have either the written agreement of the caravan park owner to occupy the site as their main residence or have occupied the site as their main residence for at least 60 consecutive days (s 3). The rights of caravan park residents under the RT Act differ from those of renters. A caravan park is defined to mean ‘an area of land on which movable dwellings are situated for occupation on payment of consideration, whether or not immovable dwellings are also situated there’.