Amount of Rent Paid

Last updated 12 January 2007

Frequency of rent payment

Persons who pay rent on a regular basis, may be eligible to receive rent assistance. This also applies to persons who do not pay rent on a regular basis, provided they pay or are liable to pay rent at least annually.    

Examples of rental situations, where rent is not paid on a regular basis

The following are examples of rent that is not paid on a regular basis to reside in that premises:

• site fees for a mobile home,
• service or maintenance fees for services provided in a HOTWORD "Def retirement village">retirement village, or
• service or maintenance fees as a condition of occupancy in a home subject to a HOTWORD "Def sale leaseback agreement">sale leaseback agreement.

Adjustment of partner's rent when separated due to illness

Where a pensioner couple are residing in rented accommodation, and one member of the couple enters care, for assessment purposes, the amount of rent the partner pays should be adjusted.    

Assessment of rent amount that includes board

If a person pays for board and lodging and the component paid for accommodation cannot be identified, two thirds of the total amount paid is considered to be rent. For automatic assessment purposes, 67% of the total amount paid is calculated.

Examples of residential situations where the rent amount may include board.

The following residential situations may include a component for board in the rent amount:

• boarders,
• nursing home patients not subsidised by the Australian Government,
• retirement village residents, or
• persons in a care situation.

Person paying rent for two premises

If a person leaves their principal home to provide or receive community based care in another residence and they are paying rent in respect of both residences, rent is assessed in respect of the residence that generates the higher amount of rent assistance.    

Discrepancy between rent paid and rent required to be paid

Situations may occur where the amount of rent payable is actually higher than the amount of rent paid. In such situations, rent assistance is to be calculated using the higher amount. However, details as to why rent is being paid at a lower level than the payable amount should be obtained and verified with the landlord.

Example of a rent discrepancy

An example of this situation is where a landlord has increased the rent payable on a property but the tenant is in dispute with the landlord and is still paying at the lower rate.