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Born from public consultation, the amended regulations, which came into effect last week, cover a raft of issues ranging from safety to privacy.
Key updates to regulations, aimed at making rooming houses safer and more comfortable for residents, include:
- Increasing the frequency of electrical safety checks, to be conducted by a licensed or registered electrician, from once every five years to every two years
- Requiring two power outlets to be freely available in every resident’s room
- Requiring laundry facilities to have one washing machine in good working order for every 12 residents
- The introduction of blind cord safety standards to rooming houses, making operators responsible for installing kits to ensure cords are safe
- Requiring rooming houses to be structurally sound, weatherproof, and free from mould and dampness
According to a Victorian government website, the Residential Tenancies (Rooming House Standards) Regulations 2023 (the Regulations), which replaced the Residential Tenancies (Rooming House Standards) Regulations 2012, aim to “balance the needs of residents while allowing operators to manage their properties sustainably.”
Government community consultation on the issue received 22 written submissions and 129 survey responses, with most supporting the “aim of aligning the rooming house standards with rental minimum standards,” according to the Andrews government’s statement of reasons on the matter.
A transition period of one to two years applies to certain standards to give rooming house operators time to make the required changes to their properties.
Rooming house providers have until 25 February 2024 to enact the transition to the updated regulations. They are as follows:
- The standard for power outlets in resident rooms
- Standards for window coverings in a residents room
- The requirement for one washing machine for every 12 residents
- The standards for corded internal window coverings
Victoria’s updated rooming housing standards follow government actions to improve rental standards across the state that came into place in January, which outlined new electrical safety standards certain properties must comply with, including ensuring properties possess “modern style switchboards, with circuit breakers and electrical safety switches installed.”
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