Read about the bond loan and rental grant products available:
A Bond Loan is an interest-free and fee-free loan to cover the rental bond when you move into a rental home.
The loan amount is up to 4 weeks’ rent and must be repaid.
Bond Loans are only available to eligible people. Check your eligibility.
Bond Loans are automatically approved for people experiencing domestic, family and sexual violence who have provided information about their circumstances.
A Bridging Bond Loan is an interest-free and fee-free loan to help you cover the upfront cost of a new bond, pending release of your current bond held by the Residential Tenancies Authority.
The loan amount is up to 4 weeks’ rent and must be repaid. If you’re eligible, you can apply for a Rental Grant when you apply for a Bridging Bond Loan. Check your eligibility.
Bond Loan Plus is an interest-free and fee-free loan to cover the rental bond, plus an amount equal to 2 weeks’ rent for a rental home you want to live in.
You can’t use the 2 weeks’ rent paid with Bond Loan Plus as the first 2 weeks’ rent for your new tenancy.
The loan amount is up to 6 weeks’ rent and must be repaid.
We don’t recommend Bond Loan Plus for people experiencing domestic, family and sexual violence. Instead you should apply for a Bond Loan and Rental Grant.
For more information, check your eligibility or talk to your nearest Housing Service Centre.
A Rental Grant is a one-off grant of 2 weeks’ rent to support people in housing crisis move into private rental accommodation. You can’t use a rental grant as the first 2 weeks’ rent for your new tenancy. Check your eligibility.
For more information on applying for a bond loan product:
Check whether you’re eligible for rent assistance from Centrelink.
To be eligible for a Bond Loan or Bridging Bond Loan, you must meet these conditions:
Bond Loans or Bridging Bond Loans are automatically approved for people who are experiencing domestic, family and sexual violence, and have provided information about their circumstances.
To be eligible for Bond Loan Plus, you must meet all conditions for a Bond Loan/Bridging Bond Loan, except that the rent for the home can't be more than 50% of the total gross weekly income of all applicants.
We don’t recommend Bond Loan Plus for people who are experiencing domestic, family and sexual violence. Instead, you should apply for a Bond Loan and Rental Grant.
To be eligible for a Rental Grant, you must meet all the conditions for a Bond Loan/Bridging Bond Loan and not have received a Rental Grant before.
You must also meet at least 1of these conditions:
If you’re an applicant under the age of 18, call Housing Services on 13 QGOV (13 74 68) for more information.
To be eligible, the combined gross (before-tax) income of all applicants can’t be more than the limits shown below.
Combined gross income includes:
We don’t assess the:
Bond Loans and Bridging Bond Loans are automatically approved for people who are experiencing domestic, family or sexual violence, and have provided information about their circumstances.
However, we don’t recommend Bond Loan Plus for people in these circumstances. Instead, you should apply for a Bond Loan and Rental Grant.
If you’re an applicant under the age of 18, call Housing Services on 13 QGOV (13 74 68) for more information.
See the table below for income limits. Note that ‘Weekly income (before tax)’ refers to how much you can earn in a week and still be eligible for a Bond Loan, Bridging Bond Loan, Bond Loan Plus or Rental Grant.
Household type | Private rental limits March 2024 |
|---|---|
1 adult | $1,325 |
2 adults | $1,987 |
3 adults | $2,649 |
4 adults | $3,312 |
1 adult with 1 dependant | $1,722 |
1 adult with 2 dependants | $2,119 |
1 adult with 3 dependants | $2,517 |
1 adult with 4 dependants | $2,914 |
2 adults with 1 dependant | $2,384 |
2 adults with 2 dependants | $2,782 |
2 adults with 3 dependants | $3,179 |
2 adults with 4 dependants | $3,576 |
Use the information below to calculate income eligibility for household types not identified in the table:
The total household income limit is then rounded to the nearest dollar.
Income eligibility limits are assessed on the total income for all applicants, not an individual applicant’s income. An applicant is a person who will sign the tenancy agreement.
If you don’t meet the eligibility criteria, contact us to discuss your circumstances:
You can apply online for:
Alternatively, download and complete a hard copy form:
If you have 3 or more applicants for any type of bond loan product or a rental grant, you’ll also need to complete the Bond Loan additional applicants form . Submit this with your application.
With the application, each applicant must provide:
Register your details to save your online application and return to it within 28 days if you need more time.
Before you save your application, enter each tenant’s first name, last name, date of birth and phone number, so we can contact you if necessary.
If you plan to rent soon but haven’t found a home to rent, check your eligibility with the eligibility tool.
This will show you whether you’re eligible for assistance through a Bond Loan, Bridging Bond Loan, Bond Loan Plus or Rental Grant.
You must provide us with the correct information, so your eligibility assessment is accurate.
After you’ve been approved to rent a property, you can submit a Bond Loan, Bridging Bond Loan, Bond Loan Plus or Rental Grant application with your supporting documents.
If your application is successful, we will send you the loan document to sign and return to us. After we receive this, we will approve your Bond Loan, Bridging Bond Loan or Bond Loan Plus and send an approval letter and bond lodgement form to your landlord/agent. Your landlord/agent needs to lodge this form with the Residential Tenancies Authority (RTA). Once that’s lodged, we will pay your bond to the RTA.
Bond Loans and Bridging Bond Loans are automatically approved for people who are experiencing domestic, family and sexual violence, and who have provided information about their circumstances.
However, we don’t recommend Bond Loan Plus for people in these circumstances. Instead, you should apply for a Bond Loan and Rental Grant.
If you have any queries about applying for bond loan products:
If you’ve submitted an online application for a bond loan or rental grant product, you can check the status of your application using your application reference number (which starts with BLW) and your date of birth.
If you have any questions about your application, call us on 1300 650 282 or email bondloan@housing.qld.gov.au.
If your bond loan is approved, we will send you:
When you move into your home, your landlord/agent must lodge a bond lodgement form (Form 2C) with the Residential Tenancies Authority (RTA) to confirm your tenancy has started.
We will send this form directly to your landlord/agent. They must sign and lodge the form with the RTA as soon as possible.
After the RTA processes the lodgement form, we pay the funds for your bond to the RTA.
For Bond Loan Plus, we will then pay the 2 weeks rent into your landlord/agent’s bank account.
If your Rental Grant is approved, we will send you:
After your landlord/agent returns the tenancy confirmation form to us, we pay the rental grant directly to them.
For more information about bond loans and rental grants:
You must repay your Bond Loan, Bridging Bond Loan or Bond Loan Plus within the loan term you were approved for. You can pay it back earlier if you wish.
You can repay any of the bond loan products (Bond Loan, Bridging Bond Loan or Bond Loan Plus) using these methods.
The Rent Deduction Scheme (RDS) is free to use and ensures that people receiving Centrelink payments can pay their bond loan repayment on time, even if they’re on holidays or sick.
Your loan repayments are deducted from your Centrelink payments and paid directly to us each fortnight. If you receive a Centrelink income support payment, using RDS for repayments is a condition of your loan approval.
Complete and sign the Rent Deduction Scheme deduction authority for bond loan payments form when you apply for bond assistance.
Applicants must decide how much each applicant will pay. The total amount deducted must meet your required monthly repayment amount.
You can pay more than your monthly repayment by stating the amount you wish to pay each fortnight on the form. You can only set up one RDS repayment at a time.
BPay is a fast, easy and convenient way to pay your Bond Loan, Bridging Bond Loan or Bond Loan Plus by phone or internet banking.
You can use BPay if you’re a registered phone banker or internet banker with a participating financial institution. The BPay biller code and your payment reference number are printed on your payment slip.
You can only use debit cards when repaying your loan with BPay.
Your financial institution may charge you a fee for using BPay.
You can repay your Bond Loan, Bridging Bond Loan or Bond Loan Plus using the department’s electronic barcode. This is available via the free Housing Assist Qld app or online.
If you use other payment methods, such as RDS, you can still use the repayment barcode to make additional payments.
You can download the free Housing Assist Qld App from your App store on Apple and Android devices.
You can find your repayment barcode and BPay reference number online.
You can arrange for your bank, credit union or building society to transfer Bond Loan, Bridging Bond Loan or Bond Loan Plus repayments from your account to us. The repayments can only be taken from one account.
You can also pay arrears and other debts using this method.
Your financial institution may charge you a fee for transferring each repayment.
Contact your financial institution to arrange repayment by this method.
If you’re having difficulty making repayments, contact the Bond Loan Arrears team on 1800 501 702 as soon as possible.
Each person listed on the Bond Loan, Bridging Bond Loan or Bond Loan Plus agreement is responsible for ensuring the full loan amount is repaid.
You can check the balance of your outstanding loan with our bond loan balance tool.
You will need to provide your bond loan number and date of birth.
When you move out of your rental home, your rental bond may be refunded if you lodge a Refund of rental bond form (Form 4) with the Residential Tenancies Authority (RTA).
Your landlord/agent may make a claim against the rental bond for any unpaid rent, cleaning or property damage. The RTA can help if you want to dispute any claim by your landlord/agent.
If you still owe money on your loan agreement when you move out, we use any bond refund amount that your landlord/agent isn’t claiming to repay this debt.
If you still have a debt after this process, contact the Bond Loan Arrears team on 1800 501 702 to arrange to pay the amount.
If your loan is fully repaid at the end of your tenancy and your landlord/agent doesn’t make a claim, you will receive the full bond amount.
Download forms from the Residential Tenancies Authority (RTA).
You can check your outstanding balance with our online tool. You’ll need to provide your Bond Loan, Bridging Bond Loan or Bond Loan Plus number and date of birth.
You can transfer a bond to another property if:
You may be eligible for a Bridging Bond Loan. You can apply for this loan when the Residential Tenancies Authority (RTA) hasn’t finalised the bond for your current rental home and you need help to pay the bond for the rental home you’re moving to. This includes when you have a bond loan with the Department of Housing and Public Works for your current rental home.
We can’t provide a ‘top up’ Bond Loan or Bond Loan Plus if your new bond is more than your current bond. To transfer your bond, lodge a Change of rental property (Form 3) with the RTA.
Each person listed on the bond loan agreement is responsible for ensuring the full amount is repaid.
If you want to leave a shared tenancy, you’ll still be responsible for the bond loan unless you ask to be removed from the loan agreement.
Everyone on the bond loan agreement has to agree to this, as the remaining tenants will then be responsible for the debt balance.
To remove your name from a shared tenancy Bond Loan, Bridging Bond Loan or Bond Loan Plus:
We will tell the RTA about the change to the bond loan when the ‘Agreement of release’ is completed.
If you lodge this form without first contacting us, the RTA won’t process the change.
The Department of Housing and Public Works is not responsible for processing refunds. To claim a bond refund, lodge a Refund of rental bond (Form 4) with the RTA at the end of your tenancy.
It is your responsibility to:
We don’t get involved in disputes between an agent/landlord and tenants. For help or queries about a dispute, contact the Residential Tenancies Authority.
Get more information about bond loans:
Guide to bond loans and rental grants, 13 Nov 2024, [https://oss-uat.clients.squiz.net/housing/renting/rent-assistance/financial/bond-loan/bond-loan-rental-grant-guide]
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