Share Housing in Brisbane: Know Your Legal Status

"Share house" isn't one legal category in Queensland — it covers several genuinely different arrangements, and which one you're in changes what protections you actually have. Whether you're a student moving into a share house near a Brisbane campus, splitting a house with friends, or renting a single room in a boarding house, understanding which category you fall into matters more than most renters realise, especially if something goes wrong.

This guide walks through the legal categories that apply to shared living in Queensland, using the framework set out by the Residential Tenancies Authority (RTA). It builds on our First-Time Renter's Guide to Brisbane, which covers the general rental process this guide's legal categories sit on top of.

The four categories that matter

Under the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008, there are effectively four different legal statuses that can apply to someone sharing accommodation. Two are fully covered by the Act, one is covered but with a specific structure, and one sits mostly outside it.

1. Co-tenant

If your name is on the tenancy agreement alongside your housemates', you're a co-tenant. All of you have signed the same agreement, all of you are named as tenants, and all of you pay rent directly to the property manager or owner.

The key thing to understand as a co-tenant: you have joint and several liability. That means every co-tenant can be held responsible for the entire tenancy — the full rent, the full amount of any damage — not just their individual share. If one housemate stops paying rent or causes damage and doesn't pay for it, the property manager can pursue any or all of the other co-tenants for the full amount, not just a proportional share.

This is the arrangement with the strongest protections, but also the highest shared risk.

2. Sub-tenant (and head-tenant)

If one or more people are named on the actual tenancy agreement and everyone else pays rent to them rather than to the property manager, the people on the lease are head-tenants, and the others are sub-tenants.

• Sub-letting requires written permission from the property manager or owner. Approved sub-tenants should be listed in the special terms of the tenancy agreement.
• The head-tenant takes on the same responsibilities to the sub-tenant that a property manager has to a regular tenant — providing a written agreement, an Entry Condition Report, a bond receipt, and following the same notice and entry rules.
• A sub-tenancy can sometimes exist without a formal written agreement if there's clear evidence the property manager knew about and agreed to it (for example, the sub-tenant filled out an application form the agent processed).
• If it's ever unclear whether someone is a co-tenant or a sub-tenant, the RTA can advise, or it can go to QCAT for a formal decision.
• The property manager isn't responsible for resolving disputes between the head-tenant and sub-tenant — that's a matter between the parties, or ultimately QCAT.

3. Rooming accommodation resident

This is a distinct legal category, separate from a standard house-share, that applies to boarding houses, hostels, and off-campus rooming-style student accommodation. It's covered by its own set of rules and its own "R-series" forms under the Act — different from the general tenancy forms.

Key differences from a standard tenancy:

• You rent one or more rooms as your only residence, sharing facilities like the kitchen and bathroom with other residents.
• The Condition Report (Form R1) records your room's condition at the start, similar in purpose to the Entry Condition Report for a general tenancy.
• Entry to your room requires an Entry Notice (Form R9).
• Ending the arrangement uses different forms: a Notice to Leave (Form R12) if the provider is ending it, or a Notice of Intention to Leave (Form R13) if you are.
• Bond rules, minimum housing standards, and the pet approval framework all still apply in rooming accommodation, in a form adapted to the shared-facility setup.
• "House rules" set by the provider can apply on top of the Act, covering things like guest policies, noise, and shared space use — these should be given to you in writing.

4. Boarder or lodger

This is the one category that sits largely outside the Act. If you're paying to stay in someone's home in a genuinely informal arrangement — often where the owner or head-tenant also lives there — and it doesn't meet the criteria for a rooming accommodation agreement, you may be classified as a boarder or lodger rather than a tenant, sub-tenant, or resident.

The Act still applies to any bond you pay — it must still be lodged with the RTA, and the standard rules for bond refund and evidence apply even in a boarder/lodger arrangement, even though the wider protections don't. Outside of that, a boarder or lodger doesn't have the same notice periods, condition report rights, or dispute resolution pathways as a co-tenant, sub-tenant, or rooming accommodation resident.

If you're moving into a genuinely informal room-in-a-house arrangement, it's worth clarifying upfront with whoever you're renting from which category applies — the difference in what happens if things go wrong is significant.

Practical implications for share housing

When you move in:

• If you're a co-tenant, make sure your name actually goes on the tenancy agreement — don't assume verbal arrangements with existing tenants are the same thing.
• If you're a sub-tenant, get written confirmation the property manager has actually approved you, not just an informal yes from the head-tenant.
• Either way, insist on your own copy of the Entry Condition Report, and complete it properly (see our First-Time Renter's Guide to Brisbane for how to do this).
• Bond money for share houses still has to be lodged with the RTA, with every contributing tenant listed — ask to see confirmation this has actually happened, since it's an offence for a head-tenant or property manager not to lodge it.

Splitting bills and rent:

• The Act doesn't require it, but a written agreement between housemates about how rent and utilities are split (even a simple share-house agreement you draft yourselves) can prevent a lot of disputes down the track, especially since co-tenants are jointly and severally liable regardless of what your informal arrangement says.

When one housemate wants to leave and others are staying:

• A co-tenant can't simply hand in a personal notice and walk away from their share of the liability — changing who's on the agreement requires written agreement from all parties: the remaining co-tenants and the property manager or owner.
• If a fixed-term agreement is running, both the departing tenant and the remaining tenants generally need the property manager's agreement to formally remove someone from the lease.
• A replacement housemate doesn't automatically become a co-tenant just by moving in and paying their share — without the property manager's written approval, they're likely a boarder or lodger with far fewer protections, and without a formal application, they may not even have that.
• If you're a co-tenant leaving and the others are staying, get everything — your departure, the bond arrangement, and the new tenant if there is one — confirmed in writing with the property manager, not just agreed verbally with your former housemates. Our guide to ending a tenancy in Brisbane covers notice periods and bond refunds in full.

Disputes between housemates:

• The property manager is generally not responsible for resolving disputes between co-tenants or between a head-tenant and sub-tenant. That's a matter for the people involved, and ultimately QCAT if it can't be resolved directly.

Where share housing concentrates in Brisbane

Share housing and rooming accommodation aren't evenly spread across Greater Brisbane's 243 suburbs — they cluster heavily around the city's universities and inner-city rental precincts:

• St Lucia, Toowong, and Indooroopilly — closest to the University of Queensland, with a mix of share houses and purpose-built off-campus student accommodation (rooming accommodation territory).
• Kelvin Grove and Spring Hill — near QUT's Kelvin Grove campus, along with the CBD-adjacent Gardens Point campus.
• Mount Gravatt, Nathan, and Upper Mount Gravatt — closest to Griffith University's Nathan campus.
• Banyo — near ACU's Brisbane campus.
• West End, Highgate Hill, and Woolloongabba — not tied to a specific university, but long-standing share-house hotspots given their inner-city location and character housing stock suited to multiple co-tenants.

If you're weighing up a share house in one of these areas, it's worth checking the suburb's own page here on Live in Brisbane for rental price context and demographic composition alongside the legal status question this guide covers. The full A–Z suburb list is there if you have somewhere else in mind.

For students and off-campus accommodation

If you're renting through a university-affiliated or off-campus student accommodation provider, check carefully whether your agreement is a standard tenancy, a rooming accommodation agreement, or something else — the terminology providers use isn't always a reliable guide. The rights that apply (entry notice, condition reports, bond handling, ending the agreement) differ depending on which category actually applies, regardless of what the marketing material calls it.

If you're not sure which category applies to you

This genuinely trips people up, and getting it wrong can mean you don't know what protections you actually have. If it's unclear:

• Ask the property manager or owner directly which category applies and ask for it in writing.
• Contact the RTA for guidance — this is exactly the kind of question their information line is set up for.
• If there's a real dispute about your status, it can be resolved by application to QCAT.

Checklist: moving into a Brisbane share house

Before moving in

• Confirm which category applies to you: co-tenant, sub-tenant, rooming accommodation resident, or boarder/lodger
• If a co-tenant, confirm your name is being added to the tenancy agreement
• If a sub-tenant, get written confirmation the property manager has approved you
• Ask to see confirmation of bond lodgement with the RTA, listing all contributors
• Get your own copy of the Entry Condition Report (or Condition Report, Form R1, for rooming accommodation)
• Draft a simple written agreement with housemates on rent/bill splitting, even if informal

During the tenancy

• Understand that as a co-tenant, you can be liable for the full rent or damage, not just your share
• Keep records of your own rent payments and any bill-splitting arrangements
• Know which notice forms apply to your category if something needs to be resolved

If a housemate is leaving (and you're staying)

• Get written agreement from the property manager for any change to who's on the lease
• Confirm the departing tenant's bond share is resolved through the RTA process
• Ensure any replacement housemate is properly added, not just informally moved in

If you're the one leaving (and others are staying)

• Get all parties' written agreement before assuming your liability has ended
• Don't rely on simply giving your own notice if you're a co-tenant — it may not remove your liability
• Confirm your bond refund arrangement in writing

References

• RTA — Sub-letting
• RTA — Boarders and lodgers
• RTA — Tenancy agreements
• RTA — Secondary dwellings
• RTA — Forms for rooming accommodation
• RTA — Rooming accommodation fact sheets
• RTA — Rental bond
• Queensland Government — Renting

This guide is general information based on Queensland tenancy law as administered by the Residential Tenancies Authority (RTA), current as of the 2024–25 rental law reforms. It isn't legal advice — legal status in shared accommodation can turn on specific facts, and if there's a genuine dispute about your status, contact the RTA or seek independent legal advice. Live in Brisbane is an independent project and is not affiliated with the RTA or the Queensland Government.