Moving Out of a Share House in Melbourne: Bond Guide

Leaving a share house should be simple. Everyone packs, someone cleans, the bond comes back. In practice it rarely goes that smoothly.

One housemate is flying out on Friday. Another has exams. The person whose name is first on the lease is suddenly doing most of the work, and nobody can remember who bought the oven cleaner. Then the agent flags the kitchen and the whole bond is held up.

A bit of planning avoids most of this. Here’s how to split the job fairly and keep the bond conversation friendly.

Why share-house bonds get complicated

In most share houses, there’s one bond with several names on it. That means a problem in one part of the house can hold up money for everyone, including housemates who left their own room spotless.

Move-out dates add another layer. It’s common for people to leave weeks apart, which makes it hard to agree on who’s responsible for the final clean of shared spaces.

Agree on a plan early

Have the conversation at least a couple of weeks before the first person leaves. A group chat message is fine, as long as it’s in writing. Cover the basics:

when each person is moving out
who is handling the final clean of the shared areas
how any cleaning costs will be split
who will be at the final inspection
how the bond will be divided once it’s refunded

Writing it down feels formal, but it saves a lot of ‘I thought you said’ later.

Divide the work fairly

A simple rule works for most houses. Everyone is responsible for their own bedroom, and the shared spaces are split between whoever is still living there.

Your own room means more than vacuuming the floor. Wipe the skirting boards, window sills and tracks, light switches, and the inside of the wardrobe. Take down anything stuck to the walls carefully, and check for marks behind where your bed and desk stood.

For the shared areas, it helps to assign rooms rather than tasks. ‘Sam does the bathroom, Priya does the kitchen’ is easier to check than ‘everyone helps with everything’. If someone leaves early, agree what they’ll contribute instead, whether that’s money towards a clean or doing their share before they go.

The shared spaces agents check hardest

Kitchens cause more bond problems than any other room, and share-house kitchens get heavy use. Agents will open the oven, look at the stovetop and rangehood, and check inside cupboards and drawers. The rangehood filters are easy to forget and usually need a proper degrease.

Bathrooms come next. Soap scum on the shower screen, mould in the grout or silicone, and a dusty exhaust fan are all common flags.

In the laundry, pull out the dryer lint filter if there is one, and clean the gap where the washing machine sat. In the living area, check under couches, along skirting boards and on the ceiling fan blades.

Don’t forget the fridge if it belongs to the property. Share-house fridges tend to hide a forgotten jar or two.

Doing it yourselves or splitting a professional clean

Plenty of share houses do the clean themselves, and it can work well when everyone pitches in. The risk is uneven effort. If one person does a rushed job on the kitchen, the whole house can end up paying for it.

Some housemates find it easier to split the cost of one professional clean. It removes the argument about who missed what, and it suits houses where people are leaving on different days. Local services such as Best Bond Cleaning Melbourne work through a room-by-room end-of-lease checklist, and carpet and window cleaning can be added if the property needs them. You can find their details at bestbondcleaningmelbourne.com.au.

Whichever option you choose, agree on it as a group before anyone books or buys anything.

When one housemate leaves early

If someone is moving out before the lease ends, their share of the bond usually doesn’t come back straight away. In many houses, the person moving in pays the outgoing housemate for their share, and the names on the bond are updated. Everyone on the bond, and the agent, need to be involved.

Consumer Affairs Victoria explains how bond transfers work for changes of renters, so check the details there before any money changes hands.

Before the outgoing housemate leaves, walk through their room together and take dated photos. It protects them, and it protects whoever stays behind.

Quick checklist for housemates

Move-out dates and responsibilities agreed in writing
Entry condition report found and shared with the group
Bedrooms cleaned by each person, including wardrobes and window tracks
Kitchen done, including the oven, rangehood filters and cupboards
Bathroom done, including the shower screen, grout and exhaust fan
Laundry and living areas cleaned, including under furniture
Bins emptied and nothing left behind in sheds or cupboards
All keys, swipe cards and remotes collected from every housemate
Dated photos taken of every room
Bond split agreed before the refund arrives

Frequently asked questions

Can one housemate get their share of the bond back early?

Often, yes. The usual approach is a bond transfer, where the incoming housemate pays the person leaving and the bond records are updated. It needs agreement from the others on the bond and the agent.

What if a housemate refuses to help clean?

Raise it early and put it in writing. If the others end up doing the work or paying for a clean, agree beforehand how that will come out of the bond split. It’s much easier to settle before the refund than after.

Who pays if the agent’s claim relates to one person’s room?

A claim is made against the whole bond, so it affects everyone on it. How the cost is shared is something housemates agree between themselves, which is another reason to photograph each room as people leave.

Does everyone need to be at the final inspection?

Not necessarily. It helps to have at least one housemate there who knows the property well and can answer questions or fix small issues on the spot.

How should we split the bond when it comes back?

Usually in the same proportions each person paid in, minus any agreed deductions. Decide this before move-out so the refund doesn’t turn into a disagreement.

Share houses work because people look out for each other. Moving out is no different. A clear plan, a fair split of the work and a few photos will get most houses through the final inspection without a fight.