Covid-19 Rent Relief in Victoria

• 

  [Deactivated] on 25/04/2020 - 18:43

  +1

  There's some info here and here

  You can also email your questions to [email protected]

  Good luck!

  • 

    ngw3 on 25/04/2020 - 22:37

    Thanks, these are the links I found, but none of them took me to the actual application form/portal. I will wait a few more days to see if there is any new information before I send them an email.

• 

  [Deactivated] on 25/04/2020 - 19:09

  In all honesty a $10 reduction. Its not much, ($520 a year) why not go for more? Youve got to prove youre under distress. $520 isnt distress.

  • 

    ngw3 on 25/04/2020 - 22:22

    +1

    To be eligible for the $2000 one off rent relief, we need to prove that we have negotiated some sort of reduction with our landlord, I don't think the amount matters (I might be wrong though). My housemate is struggling financially, but I am not. My pay got reduced but I can still afford to pay rent and help him to pay part of his rent. Therefore we haven't negotiated a rent reduction with our landlord.

    • 

      [Deactivated] on 25/04/2020 - 23:36

      Btw it's up to $2000. If your rent only goes down by $10/week for the 6 months, your landlord will not receive the full $2000 grant.

      • 

        ngw3 on 25/04/2020 - 23:45

        Oh I see, I did not know that, I thought it would be a $2,000 one-off payment to the landlord regardless of the reduction.

        • 

          [Deactivated] on 25/04/2020 - 23:51

          @ngw3:

          The Victorian Government has established an $80 million rental assistance fund to provide rent relief payments of up to $2000 to Victorians experiencing rental hardship due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic

          Edit : To be eligible, you also need to meet this requirement :

          Your household income must be less than $1,903 per week.

          • 

            ngw3 on 26/04/2020 - 00:09

            @[Deactivated]: Thanks, in this case, we'd probably negotiate a $500 per month reduction for 4 months to get the full benefit of $2,000. There is no loss to the landlord (other than receiving his money later than usual) so hopefully we can reach an agreement.

            If household income = my income + my housemate's income, we're well below $1,903.

            • 

              [Deactivated] on 26/04/2020 - 00:16

              +1

              @ngw3: Are you related to the landlord?

              • 

                ngw3 on 26/04/2020 - 15:40

                @[Deactivated]: No we're not related to our landlord, we'll be negotiating through an agent.

• 

  Ocker on 25/04/2020 - 19:20

  +1

  So you want to make your landlord, who may also be struggling during this crisis to subsidise your way of life? Is this what they call the age of entitlement?

  • 

    Ghost47 on 25/04/2020 - 19:25

    +2

    Thank god, someone is thinking of the landlords for once.

    /s

    • 

      ngw3 on 25/04/2020 - 22:34

      +1

      We have not asked our landlord for any rent reduction. We're only asking now because we need to have negotiated rent reduction with our landlord to be eligible for the one-off $2000 government rent relief payment.

      I am paying more than I used to pay for rent now because my housemate can't afford to pay his part after being stood down from both of his jobs. The $2000 one-off payment would really help, I can't just keep helping him with his rent.

  • 

    kahn on 25/04/2020 - 20:16

    +8

    Having a roof over one's head has become a "way of life" for some greedy people. Have they no shame!?

    • 

      AustriaBargain on 25/04/2020 - 22:26

      +1

      Think about the poor landlord though. If their house was left vacant then they'd have no money to pay for a roof over their heads. They'd be living rough on the street while their house sits there tragically empty, earning free money for no one anymore.

      • 

        kahn on 25/04/2020 - 22:35

        I know! Let's increase rent payments so this nightmare scenario can be avoided. Maybe the government can subsidise the cost of bikies to enforce this necessary measure.

  • 

    Cheeper on 25/04/2020 - 21:47

    +4

    It can be hard times for both tenants and landlords at this time so lets be open minded and not make assumptions.
    Hope the op can get some help from the advice given above.

  • 

    ngw3 on 25/04/2020 - 22:28

    I wouldn't mind if our landlord just reduces our weekly rent temporarily, lets say 3 months, by $1 as long as it makes us eligible for the one-off $2000 government rent relief payment. My housemate meets the requirements, being stood down + having less than $5,000 in savings.

    p.s. the taxpayers are subsidising the rent relief as a whole, not just the landlords

• 

  MrHyde on 26/04/2020 - 07:21

  There is one more condition, the rent needs to account for more than 30% of the household income.

  Also, it's not a once of $2000 figure. That's how much of the rent, the government will cover every month. So, if the old rent is $2500 per month and you negotiate down to $2000; then that $2000 will be given to the landlord. If you negotiate down to $1500; the landlord will only get $1500. If you negotiate to $2250, the landlord gets $2000 from the government and you owe him $250.

  • 

    [Deactivated] on 26/04/2020 - 10:54

    Source?

    • 

      MrHyde on 26/04/2020 - 10:56

      https://www.housing.vic.gov.au/help-renting/rentrelief

      To be eligible for the grant you will need to have registered your revised rental agreement with Consumer Affairs Victoria or gone through mediation, have less than $5,000 in savings and still be paying at least 30 per cent of your income in rent. Your household income must be less than $1,903 per week.

      Update: I am wrong about the $2000 being ongoing. It is a once-off grant.

      • 

        ngw3 on 26/04/2020 - 15:48

        Thanks for the information, we meet all the requirements including rent being >30% of current household combined income and it is well below $1903. I just can't figure out how to register/lodge the rental agreement with Consumer Affairs Victoria, there is no link on the website that leads you to the registration.

        The information on the website is not very clear, what does up to $2000 mean? If we negotiate a $500 reduction per month for 4 months, would the landlord be getting $2000 one-off?