Sub-tenancy vs co-tenancy

 Be cautious of sub-letting: when a property is sub-let, one person is informally renting part of the property from another person, who is formally renting it directly from the owner. If you are sub-letting, you will not have the protections provided from the lease and from rental laws. 

• A sub-renter’s name is not on the rental agreement (lease)
• The person whose name is on the rental agreement is known as the head renter
• There might be more than one head renter.
• If you prefer to be on the formal rental agreement, you can ask to be included.

For more information visit: Sub-letting - Consumer Affairs Victoria

If the property you are interested in has more bedrooms than you need, you may be able to sublet those bedrooms to other people, however, you will need to obtain the permission of the real estate agent/property manager first. Alternatively, you can team up with friends and rent an entire property together. This is known as co-tenancy. You can find out more about the differences between sub-tenancy and co-tenancy here. 

Have you tried our Flatmate finder tool? 

You can find other University of Melbourne students looking for accommodation and team up together in your search for accommodation.