Guide to bond loans and rental grants
Repaying your bond loan
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.
Payment methods
You can repay any of the bond loan products (Bond Loan, Bridging Bond Loan or Bond Loan Plus) using these methods.
Rent Deduction Scheme
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
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.
Electronic repayment barcode
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.
Automatic payments
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.
Difficulty making repayments
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.
Checking your loan balance
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.
Rental bond refunds
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).
In this guide:
- Check your eligibility for bond loans and rental grants
- How to apply
- After you have applied
- Repaying your bond loan
- Existing bond loans