Tracker › Local rental types › Australian share and rooming houses
Share houses, rooming houses and boarding houses in Australia
In Australia, renting a room in a shared home is common. In a share house, flatmates share a lease or sublet rooms. When an operator rents rooms to several unrelated people, state law may treat the home as a rooming house (Victoria: four or more people) or a boarding house (NSW: five or more paying residents), with registration and minimum standards. Co-living operators run furnished rooms or studios with bills included.
What is share house in English?
| Local term | In English | What it means | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| share house | shared rental home | A home where unrelated people rent rooms and share the kitchen, bathroom and living areas. | realestate.com.au Share (22 Oct 2026) |
| rooming house (Victoria) | registered room rental | A building where one or more rooms are rented and four or more people in total can live in those rooms; it must be registered with the local council. | Consumer Affairs Victoria register (22 Oct 2026) |
| boarding house (NSW) | registered room rental | A general boarding house gives beds for a fee to five or more residents, not counting the owner, manager and their families; hotels, backpackers' hostels and serviced apartments are excluded. | Service NSW (22 Oct 2026) |
| co-living | managed furnished rooms | Furnished rooms or studios with shared space, run by an operator, usually with bills included. | UKO about page (22 Oct 2026) |
Who rents it and for how long
Who: Students, young workers, new arrivals and people on working holiday visas, plus lower-income renters in rooming and boarding houses.
Typical stay: Week-to-week or month-to-month for many room rentals; co-living operators often ask for a few months' minimum.
Key figures
- 30.6% of occupied private dwellings in Australia were rented at the 2021 Census (ABS). [source, 28 Jun 2022]
Rules
- Victoria: rooming house operators must meet minimum standards for privacy, security, safety and amenity. From 13 Oct 2026 they must keep records showing the property meets them and give them to Consumer Affairs Victoria on request. [source, 22 Oct 2026]
- NSW: general and assisted boarding houses must be registered with NSW Fair Trading ($100 fee). The public register shows the name, address, proprietor and type of each boarding house. [source, 22 Oct 2026]
- NSW: the registration form must be lodged within 28 days of premises becoming a registrable boarding house or a new proprietor taking over. [source, 22 Oct 2026]
Main operators
- CDA Coliving (tracker record): Furnished rooms in shared homes in Sydney, Queensland and Tasmania.
- Gregory's Guest House (tracker record): 74 rooms across four co-living houses in Sydney (company-stated).
- UKO (tracker record): Co-living studios and apartment communities in Sydney and Melbourne.
Most share houses are let by individual landlords, head tenants or real-estate agents rather than by operators.
Tracker coverage in Australia: Co-living in Australia (8) · Student housing (PBSA) in Australia (10) (17 records in total).
Where to find listings
| Site | What it lists | Status (checked) | Tranco rank* |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flatmates.com.au | Rooms and flatmates | blocks automated checks (HTTP 429); site is public (22 Oct 2026) | #45,969 (22 Oct list) |
| Gumtree flatshare and houseshare | Room and share house classifieds | blocks automated checks (HTTP 403); site is public (22 Oct 2026) | #26,141 (22 Oct list) |
| realestate.com.au Share | Share accommodation and rooms for rent | live (HTTP 200) (22 Oct 2026) | #3,910 (22 Oct list) |
| ShareMyRoom | Furnished rooms in shared homes (listing platform) | live (HTTP 200) (22 Oct 2026) | not in top 1M |
| Victoria rooming house register | Public register of registered rooming houses (Consumer Affairs Victoria) | live (HTTP 200) (22 Oct 2026) | #717,563 (consumer.vic.gov.au, 22 Oct list) |
* Tranco top-1M list, 18 Oct 2026 (Taiwan and Australia sites: 22 Oct 2026 list): a rough guide to site traffic, not an endorsement. Sites are listed alphabetically. Status is from an automated check; "blocks automated checks" means the site refused our checker but is public.
Related: Co-living in Australia · Japan: share houses and monthly mansions
Sources checked 22 Oct 2026. See an error? Email hello@sealivingdesk.com.