Ending or breaking your lease

You may use a notice of intention to vacate to end your lease (officially called the rental agreement) if:

• Your fixed-term lease is about to come to an end, and you want to vacate. Note: In Victoria, when a fixed term lease is about to expire it will automatically turn into a periodic (month-by-month) lease once the fixed-term ends. You do not have to move out just because your fixed-term lease is about to expire
• You want your periodic (month-by-month) lease to end and can give the correct amount of notice (advanced warning)
• You need to leave the rental property because you need a different type of property (such as special accommodation due to disability, or temporary crisis accommodation). See the information on this page about needing a different type of property in the section on advanced warning. Note: In the case of disability accommodation, you may be able to remain a public housing renter and seek a transfer to a different public housing property – one that meets your needs. See the information on this page about how to request a property transfer
• You have received a certain type of ‘notice to vacate’ from Homes Victoria and you want to leave. See the information on this page about these notice types in the section on advanced warning
• Homes Victoria has repeatedly failed to carry out certain duties they have under the law, or ignored a VCAT compensation or compliance order and you want to move out. See the information on this page about what to do when Homes Victoria ignores breach of duty notices or VCAT order
• The property is unfit or unsafe to live in. See more information on this page about what to do if the property is unfit or unsafe. Note: If you are thinking about leaving because Homes Victoria is not meeting its duties or the property is unfit to live in, it is often better to get advice first. In many cases, you may be able to take action to get the problem fixed instead of giving up your public housing. If the issue is serious or urgent, you may even be able to negotiate a temporary relocation while repairs or issues are being addressed. Tenants Victoria and other organisations can give advice. See the information on this page about how you can get help
• You need to leave before the end of a fixed-term lease without a legally valid reason (known as ‘breaking’ your lease). See the information on this page about leaving early/lease-breaking and paying costs
  Note: Before you consider leaving early and paying costs, it is best to see whether you can get consent from Homes Victoria to leave early, or whether there are particular circumstances that allow you to do so without paying costs

The notice of intention to vacate needs to:

• Be in writing
• Be signed by you
• Include the required minimum notice period, which is the minimum amount of advanced warning the law says you must give
• Include the specific date you will be moving out and returning the keys

We recommend that you use the official Consumer Affairs Victoria form, Notice of intention to vacate rented premises [Word 95 KB].

Or you can collect a Tenant’s General Notice of Termination form from your local Housing Office and complete that. Using official forms helps you to include all of the information that the rules require.

We also recommend that you give your new address and contact details in case there are any issues to follow up, such as final bills, mail, or bond matters.

Note: It is best if all renters on the lease (officially called the rental agreement) sign the notice. If you move out but other renters stay, you may still be legally responsible for what happens in the property until the lease (officially called the rental agreement) is changed, either by transferring the lease or by getting an order from VCAT to remove you from it.

How much advanced warning you need to give Homes Victoria depends on why you are leaving. The minimum amount of warning (called a notice period) is usually 28 days but can sometimes be 14 days – or even immediately, although this rarely happens.

You can give more advanced warning than is required but not less. You can also move out before the end of the minimum notice period listed on your notice of intention to vacate, but you will still be responsible for the rent for the entire time, or until the property is relet, whichever happens first. For example, if 28 days notice is required, and you leave at day 20, you will likely still have to pay the other 8 days of rent.

When 28 days is required

In most cases, the required minimum notice period is 28 days.

This includes if:

• Your fixed-term lease (officially called the rental agreement) is coming to an end, and you do not want it to continue past the end-date. Your vacate date can be the last day of the fixed-term lease or a date sometime after
• You want your periodic (month-by-month) lease to end

When 14 days is allowed

There are some circumstances where you can give a notice period of 14 days, whether you have a fixed-term or periodic agreement (month-to-month) lease.

Homes Victoria ignores breach of duty notices or VCAT order

• Homes Victoria has committed ‘successive breaches’ of their duties under Victorian rental laws. This means that they have failed to follow one of the same duties set out in a ‘breach of duty’ notice 3 separate occasions, and have already been given 2 such notices from you, asking them to fix the problem, and they have not done so
• Homes Victoria has failed to follow a compliance order made by VCAT, which you can apply for after Homes Victoria ignores a breach of duty notice.

See the information on this page, Homes Victoria ignores breach of duty notices or VCAT order.

You need a different type of property

If any of these situations apply to you, you can give your notice of intention to vacate with a minimum of 14 days notice:

• You need special or personal care and must leave to get care. You will need to include evidence of this with your notice of intention to vacate
• You need to move to temporary crisis accommodation. You will need to include evidence of this with your notice of intention to vacate
• You have a disability and have asked to make reasonable modifications, but Homes Victoria has refused

Note: See our page on modifications in case there is a way to get the modifications done and avoid having to move out. In case you can move to a more suitable public housing property see the information on this page about how to request a property transfer.

You are given a ‘notice to vacate’ and want to leave

You can also give 14 days notice, if Homes Victoria has given you a ‘notice to vacate’ for any of these reasons:

• Repairs, renovations or reconstruction
• Demolition
• The property is to be used as a business
• The property is required for a public purpose
• Your fixed-term agreement is ending
• You are no longer eligible for public housing

Note: Just because you receive a ‘notice to vacate’ from Homes Victoria, it doesn’t necessary mean you have to move out. If you have received a notice to vacate, but don’t want to move out, see our page on notices to vacate and eviction, to see whether Homes Victoria has followed the rules and what to do if they have not.

When no minimum notice period is required

You can give an ‘immediate notice to vacate’ if your property is, or becomes, unfit or unsafe to live in.

See the information on this page about what to do when a property is unfit or unsafe to live in.

If you end your lease (officially called the rental agreement) for one of the legally valid reasons outlined on this page and give a valid notice of intention to vacate, with the correct amount of advanced warning, you cannot be asked to pay any additional rent beyond your move-out date or be asked to pay additional costs.

If Homes Victoria asks you to pay any additional costs for not giving the correct amount of notice, or leaving before the end of a fixed term, do not pay anything straight away unless you think it is reasonable. Homes Victoria must otherwise apply to VCAT and prove that you should pay it compensation.

VCAT is similar to a court and hears many disputes in Victoria between renters and landlords, who must follow its decisions. If you need support or advice about going to VCAT, this page has information on how to get help.

You do not have to wait until your rent is due before you give a notice of intention to vacate.

If you want to leave in the middle of a rent cycle, you can. You will be responsible for paying the rent up to, and including, the vacate date in your notice.

Example of calculating final rent payment

You have a lease (officially called the rental agreement) that says the rent is payable per calendar month, due on the first of each month. You paid your usual monthly rent on 1 August but later decided you want to move out. You gave 28 days’ notice that you will be moving out on 14 September.  When 1 September comes around you do not need to pay another whole month’s rent. You only need to pay the rent up to, and including, 14 September.

If you are unsure how much to pay, contact your local Housing Office to ask how much to pay. It is also a good opportunity to confirm that it has received your notice of intention to vacate.

You should also cancel any automatic deductions that you set up for rent payments. Accidental overpayments are refundable. Make a written request for any overpayments to your Housing Office, and it should be refunded in a reasonable time.

Note: Homes Victoria cannot apply overpayments to any amounts you owe for damage or cleaning.

To learn more about how Homes Victoria handles tenancy transfers, you can download the transfers of tenancy policy and special accommodation operational guidelines from the tenancy management manual on the DFFH website.

If you have a periodic (month-to-month) lease (officially called a rental agreement), and you need to leave without giving the full amount of notice (usually 28 days), give as much notice as you can. This is to lessen the costs you will need to pay for leaving early.

To clearly show that you have ended the lease, return the keys to Homes Victoria. You can ask your local office for a receipt or written confirmation that the keys were returned.

If you have a fixed-term lease (officially called a rental agreement), if you leave before the end of the fixed term without one of the legally valid reasons outlined on this page, this is known as ‘lease-breaking’. As soon as you know you will be ‘breaking’ your lease, you should send a notice of intention to vacate to Homes Victoria. This will help to reduce the additional costs you may have to pay Homes Victoria for leaving early.

See the information on this page about how to send Homes Victoria a notice of intention to vacate.

You may have to pay costs to Homes Victoria for leaving early. At worst, this could be 28 days of rent or until a new renter moves in, whichever happens earlier.

However, the amount you may need to pay can be adjusted, depending on the amount of notice you do give. For example, if the rules required you to give 28 days notice but you only gave 7 days, your costs for leaving early would likely be 21 days rent, or rent until the next renter moved in, whichever is earlier.

Homes Victoria may also consider your reasons for leaving, in case there are compassionate grounds. It may also look at whether it has plans to do any repairs or maintenance that could delay re-letting the property, because it would not be receiving any rent during this time anyway. There are usually no reletting or advertising fees for you to pay when you leave public housing, because there is a long waiting list for homes. Homes Victoria also does not pay agents to find new renters, so they have not paid anything to claim back from you.

VCAT will look at whether:

• You, or your children, would suffer severe hardship if the lease (also called a rental agreement) is not ended
• This hardship would be more than any hardship that Homes Victoria would suffer if the order was made
• It is reasonable to make the order, given the interests of any other renters, except any person excluded from the property under an intervention order
• The other renters on the lease, if any, support your application

If you are also seeking to create a new lease, you will need to show that:

• You are able to pay the rent. For people eligible for public housing, rent is usually affordable because it is rebated
• You can be reasonably relied upon to follow your duties under the lease, such as keeping the property reasonably clean and not causing damage
• Your hardship if the new lease is not created would be greater than the hardship of Homes Victoria (including the disadvantage to people on the waiting list)

To apply, fill out VCAT’s form for family or personal violence applications.

You can complete the form online or download a PDF and fill it in electronically or print it and complete it by hand. If you want a hard copy form posted to you, call VCAT on 1300 018 228.

VCAT’s family violence support team can also help you to complete the application in person or over the phone.

When you get to the section ‘What orders do you want VCAT to make?’, write section 91V.

If you want to end the lease but you don’t want to move out, you can ask VCAT to make an order that a new lease is created with only your name on it (and the name of any co-renters) but not the name of the person using violence.

For more information, see our page on applying to VCAT.

VCAT will let you know the time, date and place of the hearing.

At VCAT the person who hears and decides a case is called a member. The member listens to each side, reviews any evidence and resolves the dispute, either at the end of the hearing or in writing later.

It is best that you go to the hearing to tell your side of the story. If you don’t go, you run the risk of your application being dismissed by VCAT. While you may feel stressed about the hearing, VCAT is less formal than a court and Tenants Victoria and other organisations can help. If you need advice or support, this page has information on how you can get help. VCAT also has a family violence support team, which can assist you during the hearing, including helping you to attend via phone or video-conference, if required.

In making an order to reduce the fixed term or to end the lease, VCAT will need to agree that:

• There has been an unforeseen (unexpected) change in your circumstances: for example, you need to return overseas to look after your elderly parent, and would suffer severe hardship if your lease continues, or you are experiencing or are at risk of personal violence but there is not an intervention order in place
• The hardship you would likely suffer if your fixed term were not reduced, or your lease was not ended, would be greater than the hardship Homes Victoria would suffer if the order was made

In deciding whether to end the lease, VCAT must consider any severe hardship you would suffer, such as financial hardship, or a risk to your safety and that of your children.

To apply, fill out VCAT’s general application form. If the hardship relates to personal violence, fill out VCAT’s form for family or personal violence applications.

You can complete the form online or download a PDF and fill it in electronically or print it and complete it by hand. If you want a hard copy form posted to you, call VCAT on 1300 018 228.

When you get to the section ‘What orders do you want VCAT to make?’, write section 91U.

For more information, see our page on applying to VCAT.

VCAT will let you know the time, date and place of the hearing.

At VCAT the people who hear and decide cases are called members. A VCAT member listens to each side, reviews any evidence and resolves the dispute, either at the end of the hearing or in writing later.

It is best that you go to the hearing to tell your side of the story. If you don’t go, you run the risk of not having your side heard, or your application may be dismissed. While you may feel stressed about the hearing, VCAT is less formal than a court and Tenants Victoria and other organisations can help. If you need advice or support, this page has information on how you can get help. VCAT also has a family (and personal) violence support team, which can assist you during the hearing, including helping you to attend by phone or video-conference, if required.

If you discover that the rental property is unfit or unsafe to live in, before you move in, you can give an immediate notice of intention to vacate. No minimum notice period is required.

This applies if the property:

• Is not in good repair
• Is unfit for human habitation
• Is destroyed or unsafe
• Is not vacant
• Does not meet one or more of the rental ‘minimum standards’. See our page on minimum standards

Under the law, ‘before moving in’ is called before ‘entering into possession’, which means you haven’t started sleeping at the property yet, but you may have already moved in your belongings.

Your options

If the property you are offered is not in a fit and safe condition, you can:

• Accept the offer, move in and request urgent repairs
• Accept the offer but ask for repairs to be done before you move in
• Refuse the offer and wait for another one (keeping in mind that this could be counted as a ‘deemed refusal’)

Note: If you’re on the public housing waiting list, you may have waited a long time for an offer. If you are offered a property and turn it down, this may count as a ‘deemed refusal’. A deemed refusal is when Homes Victoria determines that you have that you have declined or not accepted a valid housing offer. You generally only have a limited number of offers before you risk being removed from the waiting list.

If the property offered is in poor condition, unsafe, or doesn’t meet the special needs outlined in your application, you may be able to challenge whether this should count as a refusal. If you are removed from the waiting list or Homes Victoria treats your decision as a refusal, you may be able to appeal through the Homes Victoria internal appeals process. Learn more on our page about public housing.

If you are unsure, it is important to carefully consider your options and seek advice.  In most cases, if you refuse to accept an offer Homes Victoria will not ask you to pay costs for leaving early. They will however offer the property to someone else. If you need advice, Tenants Victoria and other organisations can help. See the information on this page about how you can get help.

Evidence and costs

If you believe the property is unsafe or unliveable, you should collect strong evidence, such as photos or videos that show the condition of the property and that you haven’t moved in or started living there yet.

If you are asked to pay any costs for ending the lease before moving in, do not pay anything and seek advice. See the information on this page about how you can get help.

If the property becomes unliveable or is destroyed after you have moved in, you can give immediate notice that you intend to leave. See the information on this page about how to send Homes Victoria a notice of intention to vacate.

However, it is important to get advice first about whether you want to permanently give up your public housing, or whether you should try to make temporary arrangements with Homes Victoria so that you can remain a renter with them. If you need advice, Tenants Victoria and other organisations can help. See the information on this page about how you can get help.

If Homes Victoria breaks the same duty three times, and you have already given them two ‘breach of duty notices’ and it hasn’t fixed the problem in the required time, you have two options:

• You can give your notice of intention to vacate, provided you outline the third breach of duty in that notice, or
• You can issue a third breach of duty notice, and wait the required time, before issuing your notice of intention to vacate

You can end your lease by giving 14 days’ notice, if:

• You gave Homes Victoria one or more breach of duty notices
• You then applied to VCAT, which issued a compliance order, and
• Homes Victoria didn’t follow the order

1. Check that what Homes Victoria did is a failure to follow one of their duties under rental laws (a ‘breach’ of those duties). See our page on public housing for a list of these duties
2. Gather evidence (photos, letters, reports) to prove the breach
3. Serve the breach of duty notice correctly (by post, email, or in person)
4. Wait the required time (as stated in the notice) to let Homes Victoria fix the problem
5. If the issue continues:
   •   You can give another breach notice (up to 3 in total), then give a notice of intention to vacate, or
   •   You can apply to VCAT for a compliance order. If Homes Victoria ignores it, you can give your notice of intention to vacate

Keep copies of all notices and evidence in case you need to show them to VCAT.

For more information about how to follow this process, see our pages on Landlord (rental provider) breaches and other notices.

Note: If you follow all the steps properly, you cannot be asked to pay any lease-break costs.

If you want to move out of the property because it is unsafe or unfit to live in, Homes Victoria should work with you to arrange temporary alternative accommodation where possible. If there is disagreement about whether the home is safe and habitable, it is usually best to apply for urgent repairs (see our page on repairs and maintenance). Try to get a clear written agreement from Homes Victoria about what it will do and when.

In some situations, you may be offered another property, either on a temporary or permanent basis. However, there is no guarantee that this property will be in the same area.

To learn more about how Homes Victoria makes offers of public housing, you can download the information on offers of housing from the public housing allocations operational guidelines on the DFFH website.

To succeed in having a lease (officially called a rental agreement) created in your name, you must show:

• You are able to pay the rent on your own. For people eligible for public housing, rent is usually affordable because it is rebated
• You can be reasonably relied upon to comply with the duties of the lease, such as keeping the property reasonably clean and not causing damage
• Your hardship if the new lease is not created would be greater than the hardship of Homes Victoria (including the disadvantage to people on the waiting list)

When assessing hardship to Homes Victoria, VCAT will also consider whether the property is being underused. For example, if you are the sole remaining occupant in a 4-bedroom home and are applying to have the lease transferred into your name, your application is unlikely to succeed due to the size of the property relative to your household.

In such cases, it is important to negotiate with Homes Victoria about what a more suitable housing option would be. This may include a one-bedroom property in an appropriate location, or a two-bedroom property if you require space for a carer or arrangements for children.

To apply, fill out VCAT’s general application form.

You can complete the form online or download a PDF and fill it in electronically or print it and complete it by hand. If you want a hard copy form posted to you, call VCAT on 1300 018 228.

When you get to the section ‘What orders do you want VCAT to make?’, write section 91S.

For more information, see our page on applying to VCAT.

VCAT will let you know the time, date and place of the hearing.

At VCAT the people who hear and decide cases are called members. A VCAT member listens to each side, reviews any evidence and resolves the dispute, either at the end of the hearing or in writing later.

It is best that you go to the hearing to tell your side of the story. If you don’t go, you run the risk of not having your side heard, or your application may be dismissed. While you may feel stressed about the hearing, VCAT is less formal than a court and Tenants Victoria and other organisations can help. If you need advice or support, this page has information on how you can get help.

To learn more about how Homes Victoria manages abandoned properties and goods in public housing, you can download the abandoned properties and goods operational guidelines from the tenancy management manual on the DFFH website.

If you need support to end your lease, help is available.

There are resources to assist you with understanding more about ending or breaking your lease.

The Residential Tenancies Act 1997 is Victoria’s main law for renting. It describes the rights and duties of renters and landlords in numbered sections.

The sections in this list relate to ending or breaking your lease. Click on a link to see more about the section.

• Section 81 – Assignment and sub-letting by a renter
• Section 82 – Renter may apply to VCAT
• Section 84 – Rental provider cannot ask for fee for giving consent
• Section 91C – Termination by agreement
• Section 91D – Termination by consent
• Section 91L – Termination by renter before possession
• Section 91N – Termination after death of a sole renter
• Section 91Q – Creation of periodic rental agreement
• Section 91S – Application to Tribunal for creation of residential tenancy agreement
• Section 91U – Reduction or termination because of hardship
• Section 91V – Termination or creation because of family or personal violence
• Section 91W – VCAT termination or creation orders
• Section 91X – VCAT may determine parties’ liability under terminated rental agreement
• Section 91Z – Notice of intention to vacate
• Section 91ZB – Reduced period of notice of intention to vacate in certain circumstances
• Section 91ZC – Rental agreement of more than 5 years does not comply with standard form
• Section 91ZD – Premises destroyed or unfit for habitation
• Section 91ZE – Failure of rental provider to comply with VCAT order
• Section 91ZF – Successive breaches by rental provider
• Section 91ZZN – Form of notice of intention to vacate
• Section 91ZZQ – How can a notice be withdrawn
• Section 208 – Breach of duty notice
• Section 209 – Application for compensation or compliance for breach of duty
• Section 211A – Matters to be considered by VCAT in a compensation matter
• Section 322 – Application for possession order by rental provider
• Section 506 – Service of documents

The Residential Tenancies Regulations 2021 provide more detail and definitions, and specify updates to the Residential Tenancies Act.

Homes Victoria policies

Homes Victoria also has policies (rules) that set out its obligations to assess issues and communicate respectfully with you to try to resolve them. It must follow these policies.

These Homes Victoria guidelines and practice manuals relate to ending or breaking your lease. They are located on the Department of Department of Families, Fairness and Housing (DFFH) website:

• Tenancy management manual – transfers of tenancy, special accommodation, temporary absences, rental agreement terminations and deceased estates, and abandoned properties and goods
• Relocations manual
• Public housing allocations operational guidelines