In short:
Victorian renters will be able to transfer their existing rental bond to a new property from 1 July under Australia’s first portable bond scheme. The reform is expected to reduce moving costs for Wyndham renters while maintaining bond protections for landlords.
Wyndham Advertiser
Changes For Tenants and Landlords
Victorian renters will soon be able to transfer their rental bond from one property to another under a new state government scheme aimed at reducing the upfront costs of moving house.
The Portable Rental Bond Scheme will begin on 1 July, allowing eligible renters to move an existing bond to a new rental property through Victoria’s Residential Tenancies Bond Authority (RTBA) system, rather than paying a second bond while waiting for their previous bond to be refunded.
For many Wyndham renters, where median weekly rents remain well above pre-pandemic levels, the change could remove one of the biggest financial hurdles associated with moving.
Under the current system, renters often need to find several thousand dollars for a new bond before receiving the refund from their previous property. The new scheme is designed to bridge that gap by transferring the existing bond directly between tenancies.
The change could be particularly helpful for families and workers relocating within Wyndham’s fast-growing suburbs, where rental demand remains strong and moving costs can quickly add up.
For landlords, the reform does not remove the requirement for a bond to be held against a tenancy. Instead, it changes how the bond is transferred between properties. Landlords will still be able to make claims against a bond where appropriate under existing tenancy laws.
However, landlords may need to ensure final inspections and bond assessments are completed promptly, as bond transfers will rely on the outgoing tenancy being finalised through the RTBA system.
The government has also announced that from October, rental providers will be required to provide evidence when making claims against a bond, adding further documentation requirements to the process.
The portable bond scheme forms part of a broader package of rental reforms introduced in Victoria in recent years, including minimum rental standards, restrictions on rental bidding and changes to eviction laws.
While renter advocacy groups have welcomed measures aimed at reducing moving costs, some landlord groups have previously raised concerns about the increasing regulatory burden on property owners and property managers.
For Wyndham residents, the practical impact is likely to be straightforward: renters moving from one Victorian property to another may no longer need to come up with thousands of dollars for a second bond while waiting for their first bond to be returned.
