Move your bond when you move

You can now move your bond when you move

If you’re moving from one rental home to another, you can now choose to move your bond to your new property using the Residential Tenancies Bond Authority’s (RTBA) Portable Rental Bond Scheme. This means you don’t have to wait for your bond to be refunded by the RTBA to pay the bond for your new home.  

It costs $25 to move your bond. If the new bond is more than your existing bond, you need to pay the difference. 

You can move your bond if:

• You have an unclaimed bond held by the RTBA
• You signed the lease (rental agreement) for the second property but not yet paid the bond
• The same renters on the existing bond will be listed on the new bond – this means if you are living with other people, you are all moving to the new property and have agreed to move the bond
• You don’t owe money to the Government for a previous bond or have a Homes Victoria bond loan
• Your previous bond isn’t suspended and doesn’t have pending transactions against it
• Both rental properties are in Victoria
• You (and any other renters listed on the bond) agree to the terms and conditions

To learn more, visit the Victorian Government’s webpage on the Portable Rental Bond Scheme.
 

Have you had to move from your rental home?

Many renters are forced leave their rental home and neighbourhood because their rent increased beyond what they could afford, the landlord sold the property, or they were forced to move for another reason outside their control. For many Victorian renters, this displacement is an increasingly common experience.

We are supporting the University of Melbourne to better understand the challenges renters face when they are forced to move from their homes and communities, the support they need, and how they rebuild their lives afterwards.

If you’ve rented from a private landlord or real estate agent in Victoria in the last 5 years and had to move away from your neighbourhood when you didn’t want to, we’d like to hear about your experience.

Take the survey to help us build evidence for improving support and informing practical solutions to help people when they are forced to relocate: Navigating Rental Displacement.