Boarding House FAQs

Rent needs to be paid on a regular basis and tenants need to pay rent on time as part of their tenancy agreement.

Tenants need to pay one week’s rent before moving in and must keep rent paid at least one week in front at all times.

Unity Housing offers several ways for boarding house tenants to pay rent. These include Centrepay, eftpos, bank deposit and online transfer.

A bond of two weeks’ rent also needs to be paid before moving into a boarding house. The bond will be refunded in full if:

• the room is left clean and tidy with no damage
• keys/swipe cards are returned
• there is no outstanding debt, and
• rent is paid up to date.

Unity Housing tries to help tenants to not get into rent debt by talking to tenants as soon as rent is late. Sometimes we need to also issue tenants with a late rent notice if rent is still not paid.

If rent becomes two weeks late, a notice of termination will be issued and, if rent is still not paid after another two days, we will ask for a tribunal hearing for eviction through the South Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (SACAT).

Unity Housing understands that tenants’ needs may change. We will try to help wherever possible. This includes the possibility of transferring tenants to different rooms.

To apply for a transfer, the tenant must have:

• been a tenant for at least six months
• a good rental history with Unity Housing
• kept their room in good condition, and
• been a good neighbour.

A Unity Housing manager will review transfer applications on a case-by-case basis. Documents, such as a letter from a doctor or support worker may also be required.

If you believe Unity Housing has made a wrong decision, you can ask for the decision to be reviewed.

Visit the Complaints and Appeals page here.

Tenants need to report maintenance issues to Unity Housing staff as soon as possible.

Tenants can report issues by talking to staff, by email or by completing the maintenance form which is available to download here.

All maintenance must be approved and most is managed by Housing SA.

Where possible, tenants will be told when maintenance work will be done. Tenants will be asked to help by providing access to their room. Sometimes we won’t know when the contractor is coming and won’t be able to let you know. Staff will still need to access your room so the contractors can carry out the maintenance.

Please email completed maintenance request forms to maintenance@unityhousing.org.au.