Housing Agency Registration and Regulation
Registration and regulation of housing agencies is a fundamental part of the Government's approach to increasing the supply of affordable rental housing for low-income Victorians.
Regulation holds agencies accountable to the Government, tenants, investors and the community for their use of public and private funds to provide community housing where this is not currently provided by the market.
Housing Registrar
The Housing Registrar was established in 2005 to register and regulate rental housing agencies in Victoria. A regulatory framework came into effect in July 2007. It was developed in consultation with currently registered housing agencies, agencies seeking registration and peak bodies.
It aims to strengthen the capacity of the housing sector for innovation and continuous improvement in the provision of affordable housing for low income people.
National Community Housing Standards
The National Community Housing Standards (NCHS) were first published in 1998. Revised versions were published in 2003 and in 2010.
Rooming house regulations
On 11 December 2008, new regulations were introduced to cover rooming houses of four or more people in the Health (Prescribed Accommodation) Regulations 2001 (HPA).
The HPA Regulations definition of a rooming house has been changed to align with the Residential Tenancies Act 1997 (RTA) definition of four or more people. In addition to achieving consistency in the definitions between the two pieces of legislation, this change provides a range of additional protections to residents of rooming houses with four and five residents.
