House rules in rooming accommodation

House rules cover the use, enjoyment, control or management of rooming accommodation such as boarding houses, residential services accommodation or off-campus student accommodation.

There are 2 types of house rules:

prescribed rules that apply to all rooming accommodation in Queensland
rules made by the property manager/provider.

Before signing a Rooming accommodation agreement (Form R18) the resident should be given a copy of the house rules.

When the resident signs the agreement, they are also agreeing to the house rules. If they break a house rule, they are breaking the agreement.

The house rules must also be displayed in a place where they are likely to be seen by the residents, such as on a wall or notice board.

Prescribed house rules

The prescribed house rules set out in the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Regulation 2025 apply to all rooming accommodation in Queensland and include:

Resident and guest behaviour

Residents and their guests must not interfere with the reasonable peace, comfort and privacy of other residents.

Maintenance of rooms

Residents must maintain their rooms in a way that does not:

interfere with the reasonable comfort of other residents
create a fire or health hazard.

Residents must not intentionally or recklessly damage or destroy any part of their rooms or a facility in their rooms.

Common areas

Common areas are parts of the property shared by different residents, such as a television room, bathroom, kitchen, hallway or yard.

The property manager/provider must take reasonable steps to make sure the common areas and facilities are kept safe, clean and in good repair. Residents and their guests must leave common areas neat, clean and tidy after using them.

Guests

Residents must make sure their guests are aware of the house rules.

Access to residents’ rooms

The property manager/provider must not enter a resident’s room other than as allowed under Queensland tenancy law. The provider must also take reasonable steps to ensure residents have quiet enjoyment of their rooms.

Door locks and keys

Residents must not tamper with or change a door lock on the property, or make copies of keys without permission from the property manager/provider. If the resident asks for the locks to be changed or repaired due to domestic and family violence, the property manager/provider must change or repair the lock.

Animals

Residents must not keep an animal on the property without permission from the property manager/provider. For more information about the process for requesting permission, see our renting with pets page.

House rules made by the property manager/provider

In addition to the prescribed house rules, a property manager/provider can make their own house rules. House rules made by a property manager/provider must not conflict with the prescribed rules. The property manager/provider can make house rules covering:

guests
smoking
using shared facilities
parking
drinking alcohol or illegally consuming drugs
making noise
keeping pets.

For the matters above, the property manager/provider can make house rules to meet specific needs. For example, accommodation may have a rule stating residents must keep noise to a minimum between 11:00pm and 6:00am.

Breaking house rules

If a resident breaches a house rule, they breach their rooming accommodation agreement and the property manager/provider can issue a Notice to remedy breach (Form R11). If it is a serious breach of the house rules (e.g. breaking the law, using or dealing drugs), the property manager/provider may end the tenancy.

Changes to house rules

If a property manager/provider wants to change a house rule or make a new one, there are steps they must follow.

Giving residents notice

The property manager/provider must give each resident a written notice that states:

the proposed change
when the change will take effect
that the resident can object to the change
how the resident can object to the change.

Residents must be given at least 7 days' notice of a rule change. If a person becomes a resident less than 7 days before the proposed commencement date, they must be given notice of the change when they become a resident.

Objections from residents

If a resident believes a proposed rule change is unreasonable, they can give the property manager/provider a written notice objecting to the change. The notice must state:

the resident’s name
that the resident objects to the proposed change
why the resident believes the proposed change is unreasonable.

Determining whether a rule change goes ahead

If 10 or more residents object to a rule change, or half the total number of residents if there are fewer than 20 residents, the provider cannot proceed with the rule change.

If the required number of residents have objected, the provider must give a notice to each resident to tell them about the objections and that the rule change will not go ahead.

If the provider decides not to proceed with a rule change, they must also notify residents.

A rule change will go ahead if no one objects to it or it hasn’t been objected to by the required number of residents.

Applying to QCAT to appeal resident objections

If enough residents object to a rule change and the property manager/provider still wishes to proceed, they can apply to the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT) seeking a ruling that the rule change is reasonable. An application to QCAT must include copies of the objections and be made within 7 days after the proposed commencement day for the change.

QCAT will consider whether the change is reasonable or not and may change the rule to make it reasonable if this is required. If declared to be reasonable, the rule will take effect on a day decided by QCAT. The provider must notify residents of the outcome of QCAT’s decision.

Objecting to existing rules

A resident can apply to QCAT about an existing house rule they believe is unreasonable. They must explain to QCAT why they believe the rule is unreasonable and show that other residents believe it is unreasonable.

Before making a decision, QCAT will consider how other residents will be affected by a rule change. QCAT will either confirm the existing rule or declare it unreasonable. If QCAT decides a rule is unreasonable, they may declare it void or change the rule.

The property manager/provider must notify residents of the outcome of QCAT’s decision.

Rooming accommodation agreement (Form R18)
v15 1Sep25

A Rooming accommodation agreement (Form R18) is the agreement between the resident and the provider/agent which sets out the terms that apply to the resident's stay in the accommodation.

438.2 kB Download

Residential Tenancies Authority