What is a rooming house?
A rooming house is a building where:

• there are one or more rooms available for rent, either for short or long periods
• at least four people may rent those rooms
• each resident pays rent
• residents rent a room and can share communal facilities such as bathrooms and toilets but may also have their own facilities within the room
• different rental agreements can exist for different residents.

Other terms you may hear used to describe a rooming house are boarding house, guesthouse, hostel or hotel. All these types of accommodation may be classed as rooming houses and therefore may be governed by the laws discussed in this guide.

Rooming house registration
Rooming houses must be registered with the local council. The council can then inspect the rooming house to see if it meets the standards required by the Health (Prescribed Accommodation) Regulations 2001. There are standards set out below for toilet and bathroom facilities, water supply and minimum room size.

If you think your rooming house does not meet these standards, you should contact your local council. Contact details for local council’s can be found in your local telephone directory, library or at the Local Government Victoria website.

A rooming house must have:

• at least one toilet for every 10 people
• at least one fixed bath or shower and one washbasin for every 10 people
• continuous and adequate supply of hot and cold water to all bathing, laundry and kitchen facilities
• working smoke alarms fitted throughout the premises
• rooms and communal areas in a clean condition and good working order.

Each room must have:

• either a minimum of 7.5m² floor space or a minimum of 12m² floor space where the room will be occupied by two people for a period of more than 31 days (an additional 4m² is required for every additional person)
• a minimum of 12m² floor space where the room will be occupied by four people for a period of less than 31 days.

These standards are required by the Health (Prescribed Accommodation) Regulations 2001 and Building Regulations 2006.

Comfort and safety
Following are a list of things likely to make the rooming house a safer and more pleasant place for residents to live.

Does the rooming house have:

• sound structure
• communal food preparation area with sink, stove and fridge
• floor coverings free of major rips or raised edges, no unsecured floorboards or loose tiles
• laundry facilities including a clothesline
• good external and common area lighting?

Does the room have:

• a minimum of two power outlets
• adequate ventilation and light
• heating or appropriate allowances for portable heating
• window coverings to keep light out and provide privacy
• walls in a reasonable condition without major holes, cracking, staining, rips or graffiti?

In this section:

• Rooming house residents
• Rooming house owners

Useful resources:

• Forms for rooming house residents and owners.