Rooming houses

Land may be exempt from land tax if it is used and occupied as a registered rooming house.

In order to be eligible for the rooming house exemption, the Commissioner of State Revenue must be satisfied that the land is used and occupied:

• as a rooming house (within the meaning of the Residential Tenancies Act 1997) that is registered under Part 6 of the Public Health and Wellbeing Act 2008, and
• primarily for low-cost accommodation by people with low incomes. Effective from the 2023 land tax year onwards, you can use our guidelines to determine whether your rooming house is a low-cost accommodation. For the 2022 land tax year and prior, please use the guidelines in the archived LTA-003v2 Commissioner's guidelines on rooming house exemptions.

Check your eligibility

Use this checklist to review whether your land is eligible for the rooming house exemption under the new guidelines. 

If you answer:

• yes to all of the below criteria, the land is still eligible for a rooming house exemption and no further action is required. 
• yes to all of the below criteria except criterion 6, the land may still be eligible for the rooming house exemption if exceptional circumstances beyond your control (i.e. renovations, commencement late in the year) have limited your ability to meet this criterion. You will need to contact us to explain why you were unable to meet this requirement in order for the Commissioner to consider your eligibility further.  
• no to any of the below criteria (except criterion 6), then the land is not eligible for a rooming house exemption.

Criteria

1. The rooming house is currently registered with local council in accordance with Part 6 of the Public Health and Wellbeing Act 2008.
2. The rooming house contains one or more rooms, excluding self‐contained units or apartments, which are available for occupation at all times by 4 or more rooming house residents.
3. The rooming house is currently occupied by at least one rooming house resident.
4. The rooming house residents have a right to occupy a room and a right to use common facilities in the rooming house.
5. Please confirm that:
   1. no rooming house resident is a relative of the landowner or manager/lessee of the rooming house
   2. no rooming house resident is a director or shareholder (or relative of a director or a shareholder) of the company that owns the land and/or operates/leases the land 
   3. no rooming house resident is a trustee or a beneficiary of the trust that owns the land and/or operates/leases the land (if relevant).
6. In the previous tax year, at least 80% of the rooming house was occupied by long-term rooming house residents (i.e. persons residing at the rooming house for one or more periods totalling not less than 3 months).
7. In the previous tax year, the weekly tariff for the accommodation did not exceed the maximum permitted tariff.

Apply for an exemption

To apply for a rooming house exemption via My Land Tax, you must provide:

• the land tax years for which the exemption is sought
• the address of the premises in which the low cost accommodation is provided
• a description of the physical structure and facilities of the premises (i.e. number of rooms, whether any parts of the property are used for purposes other than the rooming house)
• the number and types of people for whom the accommodation is provided
• the maximum weekly tariffs charged for the accommodation and the type of accommodation covered by the tariffs (i.e. full board and lodging or lodging only)
• certificate(s) of registration as a rooming house issued under the Public Health and Wellbeing Act 2008 for each of the tax years in which the exemption is sought
• an occupancy register, or similar record, which accurately details the length of stay and the tariffs paid by each resident for the period in which the exemption is sought
• a copy of residency agreement and/or any house rules that residents must abide by
• details about the circumstances and arrangements in which the accommodation is made available
• a copy of any brochures or promotional material advertising the property
• documentary evidence, such as letters from housing or welfare agencies, to show that residents at the property are on low incomes
• a plan of the property identifying areas used for rooming house purposes and areas used for any other purposes.

Maximum permitted tariff

The rooming house exemption applies only if the tariff charged per person for weekly accommodation does not exceed the maximum permitted tariff.

Single accommodation

The maximum permitted tariff for rooming houses for both single and shared accommodation is 70% of the Commonwealth aged pension rate for lodging only and 105% of the Commonwealth aged pension rate for full board and lodging. This is adjusted each year based on the relevant previous September quarter pension level (i.e. the maximum permitted tariff for 2024 is based on the pension level for the September 2023 quarter).

View historical tariffs 

Rooming house residency agreement

Consumer Affairs Victoria has developed a model rooming house residency agreement setting out the rights and obligations of rooming house owners, operators and residents.