If you've rented in a share house, you know the paperwork can get complicated fast. NSW Fair Trading publishes a set of standard shared tenancy documents that exist for a reason — they protect everyone involved when the household composition changes.
Here's a quick tour of the documents you might encounter, and when each one matters.
Co-tenancy agreement
This is the foundation. When two or more people sign the same lease, they're co-tenants. They're jointly and severally liable — meaning each one is responsible for the whole rent and any damage, not just their share. If one stops paying, the others are on the hook.
A co-tenancy agreement (sometimes called a co-tenant deed) sits alongside the head lease and sets out how the household will run internally — who pays what share, who covers utilities, what happens if someone wants out. It's not lodged anywhere; it's an agreement between the housemates themselves.
Worth doing? In our experience, yes. It heads off disputes that otherwise turn into late-night arguments.
Change of shared tenancy form
This is the formal NSW Fair Trading document used when:
- A co-tenant is leaving and someone is replacing them
- The remaining tenants are continuing the lease
- The bond needs to be reapportioned
We've covered this in detail in another blog, but the short version is: don't skip it. Informal changeovers cause months of grief later.
Sub-letting documents
Sub-letting is different from co-tenancy. In a sub-let, one tenant remains the head tenant and the other(s) rent from them rather than directly from the landlord.
In NSW, sub-letting requires the landlord's written consent. The head tenant remains primarily responsible to the landlord regardless of who's actually living there. There are template documents NSW Fair Trading provides for sub-letting agreements, which set out the terms between head tenant and sub-tenant.
If you're considering sub-letting a room, ask first — and get permission in writing.
Bond transfer forms
When a co-tenant leaves and a new one joins, the bond doesn't simply move. It either gets paid out and re-lodged, or transferred via NSW Fair Trading's online services. Your agent or landlord lodges the change so the names on the bond match the names on the lease.
Don't try to handle this informally between housemates. The official record is what matters at end of tenancy.
Why getting the paperwork right matters
We see two patterns play out repeatedly:
- The unofficial co-tenant. Someone moves in, contributes rent, but isn't on the lease. When the relationship sours, they have no rights — and the people who are on the lease are still 100% responsible for them.
- The unrecorded changeover. The original tenant moves out without being formally removed. Two years later, the property suffers damage and the bond comes up short. The original tenant gets chased.
Both are avoidable with twenty minutes of paperwork at the right moment.
Where to find the documents
NSW Fair Trading hosts the full set under "shared tenancy documents" on their website. Hunter PM can also send the relevant form when you tell us what's changing.