Flatmate Agreement

A written agreement provides certainty and clarity and should be used for all share accommodation situations. This FREE Flatmate Agreement outlines the basic terms for flatmates renting a room in a share house.

Flatmate Agreement for common law room rentals

Download the FREE Flatmate Agreement

This Flatmate Agreement should be used for common law room rentals. Make sure it is suitable for your situation by reading about the different types of tenancy situations.

When should you use this agreement?

Depending on your tenancy situation, there are different types of law that can apply:

1. Agreement to rent whole premises (i.e. whole house or apartment): Residential Tenancy Law will automatically apply to your agreement. You should not use this agreement but instead use the standard form Residential Tenancy Agreement for state or territory.
2. Agreement to rent a room with access to shared facilities: under this situation, you can use either:
   • the standard form Residential Tenancy Agreement for your state or territory. Flatmates.com.au recommends using a Residential Tenancy Agreement for share accommodation.
   • the Flatmate Agreement (download above), which is a common law agreement setting out the basic terms.

What is the difference between Residential Tenancy Law and Common Law?

1. Residential Tenancy Law (Residential Tenancy Agreement)

These are rights and obligations for tenants and landlords created by state and territory governments. Residential tenancy law will automatically apply if your agreement is for a whole premises (i.e. a whole house or apartment). The landlord and tenant can agree for residential tenancy law to apply if the agreement is for part of a premises (i.e. a room rentals) with access to shared facilities.

You should use the standard form residential tenancy agreement for each state and territory.

Flatmates.com.au recommends using residential tenancy law as it provides certainty and clarity about all rights and obligations in share accommodation. For example, residential tenancy law defines how bonds, landlord access, and termination work.

2. Common law (Flatmate Agreement)

Common law can only apply to an agreement to rent a room with shared access to facilities. It cannot apply to an agreement to rent a whole premises (i.e. a whole house or apartment).

A common law agreement is more flexible than a Residential Tenancy Agreement because the flatmates can agree to any terms. However, because every term must be negotiated and agreed on, common law agreements are often not as comprehensive or defined as a residential tenancy agreement. This can mean it takes more time and money to resolve any disputes that arise.

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