Boarding houses
Learn about the differences between boarding house tenancies and standard tenancies.
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What is a boarding house?
Boarding houses are sometimes advertised as shared accommodation or ‘rooms to rent’.
At a boarding house, each tenant has their own agreement with the landlord to rent a single room, or a sleeping area in a room they share with other tenants. They also share facilities, for example the kitchen and bathroom. This is different to a standard tenancy, where one or more tenants sign the agreement to rent the whole property.
A boarding house has (or intends to have) at least 6 tenants at any one time.
A boarding house tenancy lasts (or is intended to last) for at least 28 days.
In this section
Answer some simple questions to find out if you are operating a boarding house. If you are, you must meet the requirements under tenancy law.
Learn about the requirements for boarding house tenancies, including what needs to be in the boarding house tenancy agreement and about house rules.
Learn about the requirements for maintenance and inspections at a boarding house, including information about locks and security, the rules for entering a tenant’s room and what to do if there’s a problem.
Find out how much notice to give, and what you need to do, at the end of your boarding house tenancy.
Tenancy Services has produced a ‘top tips’ checklist to help boarding house landlords and tenants understand the requirements of the healthy homes standards, and what to look out for when starting a tenancy.
