How to apply for Corona Virus Rent Relief Grant in Victoria

If you reside in Victoria and you are going through financial hardship due to COVID-19, you may be eligible to apply for the Victorian Rent Relief Grant and have your rent reduced to alleviate some financial stress. The good news is that there are no citizenship or permanent residency requirements for this grant. So even student visa or other temporary visa holders can apply for it, given that they are mentioned on the lease or tenancy agreement. Realising that it can be overwhelming to consolidate the myriad of information available when most of us are already stressed out, we have tried to clarify what is CoronaVirus Rent Relief Grant and the procedure to apply for it in the simplest way possible.

What is the CoronaVirus Rent Relief Grant?

The Victorian Government has established an $80 million rental assistance fund to provide a one-off rent relief payment package of up to $2000 to help Victorian renters maintain safe, secure and stable accommodation. However, please note that this amount is paid to the tenant’s agent or landlord to contribute to the tenant’s rental payments, and not to the tenants.

Are you eligible for this Rent Relief grant?

To be eligible for the grant you must have

• Registered a revised rental agreement that includes the terms of rental reduction or completed a mediation or dispute resolution in case an agreement cannot be reached.  You must register this new rental agreement with Consumer Affairs Victoria.
• Your financial circumstances will need to have been significantly affected by COVID-19 through loss of employment, working hours and/or income reduced by 20% or more.
• Your household income must be less than $1,903 per week before tax, and you have less than $5,000 in savings and still be paying at least 30 percent of your income in rent. 
• You have no access to other benefits or financial assistance.

What are the steps to apply for this Rent Relief Grant?

1. First, you must negotiate a rental reduction with your landlord or real estate agent and lodge that agreement with Consumer Affairs Victoria; To register visit https://online.justice.vic.gov.au/cav-forms/covidcomplaint.doj
2. After lodging your new rental agreement with Consumer Affairs Victoria, you can apply for the rent relief grant by visiting Rent Relief Grant online. Note that you must provide a current bank statement for every tenant on the lease and the evidence of reduced income or lost the job for every applicant affected.

How to negotiate a rental reduction with my landlord?

1. Inform your agent or landlord about your hardship. In most cases, they will send you an application form to fill and request you for supporting documents such as bank statement, recent payslips to prove reduced working hours, confirmation letter from your employer stating your loss of job or reduction in work hours, etc. If you are not an Australian citizen, they may ask you to provide a recommendation letter from your embassy. 

Note: Make sure you clarify your expected amount of rent reduction to your landlord. As per my experience, a reasonable request is somewhere between 20-30% for the next 3-4 months. Always request for a higher percentage because there are high chances that the landlord will negotiate and agree to a lower reduction than what you proposed. Give them a buffer for their negotiation. Basically, if you think 20% will do, ask for 30%.

1. Prepare all documents and submit to the landlord/agent as required. When you come to an agreement on the reduction amount, you will be provided a new rental agreement for the proposed period that you must sign & confirm. Then follow the steps mentioned in the above section.

After the Application of grant

If further details are required, you will receive an email with the requirements to complete the assessment of your application. You will have 14 business days to provide the details or additional documents requested. Otherwise, your application may be assessed as ineligible.

Once the assessment is completed and your application has been approved, your rental relief payment will be processed within two weeks, as per the Victorian government. Actual processing times may vary. Some applicants have claimed that it took more than a month for processing. The payment will be made directly to your agent or landlord, and you will be notified once the payment is made.

FAQ My landlord is asking me to pay back the reduced amount after a few months. Do I need to pay the grant back?

You will not have to pay the grant back.

As per the Department of Health and Human Services, State Government of Victoria, Australia, you will not have to pay the grant back. Since the landlord is getting reimbursed for the discounted amount of rent through this grant, it is your right as a tenant to negotiate this with the landlord such an issue arises. Additionally, please note that to protect and support both renters and landlords at this difficult time, the Victorian government has also declared the following:

• A six-month ban on evictions
• A pause in rental increases for six months
• Land tax relief for landlords

You can also find more details at https://www.housing.vic.gov.au/help-renting/rentrelief

We hope this post is of assistance to you in some way and helps in relieving some financial stress. It is a difficult time for everyone, and although it may be minimal, there are support and help available. Nevertheless, the onus is upon each of us to stay aware and updated about the circumstances and supports available, and reach out for assistance. 

Meanwhile, if there is any education-related query or migration assistance you require, please feel free to contact us. We are here for you.