CDA ColivingYour Agreement & Your State
We rent rooms and we rent whole properties, in New South Wales and in Tasmania. Different agreement, different rules — here's what applies to you.
Which agreement do I have?
It depends entirely on what you're renting — not on who you are or how long you're staying.
You rent a room
Your own bedroom in a house you share with other people, each on their own agreement with us. You sign an Occupancy Agreement.
You rent the whole place
A studio, unit or house that's exclusively yours — nobody else has a separate agreement for part of it. You sign a Residential Tenancy Agreement.
Side by side
| Room in a shared house | Whole studio, unit or house | |
|---|---|---|
| You sign | An Occupancy Agreement | A Residential Tenancy Agreement |
| What you get | Your bedroom, plus shared use of the kitchen, bathrooms and living areas | The entire property, exclusively yours |
| Money up front | Security deposit, maximum 2 weeks | Rental bond, lodged with the state bond authority |
| Who holds it | CDA, and returns it directly to you | The state authority — not CDA |
| Notice of a fee increase | 4 weeks | 60 days, and only once every 12 months |
| Ending it | 4 weeks' written notice | Set by law and by your agreement — see the Whole property tab |
Look at the title on the first page of your agreement — it says so. If you can't find your copy, email [email protected] and we'll send it again.
House Rules, Move-In, Living at CDA and Move-Out describe day-to-day life in a shared house, which is most of what we manage. If you rent a whole property, the practical advice still applies — the money, notice and dispute rules on this page are the ones that govern your agreement.
Room in a shared house
What an Occupancy Agreement gives you, in plain language.
They aren't things we choose to offer — they're built into the type of agreement you signed, and they can't be signed away. If anything we do looks like it doesn't match, tell us.
Your money
| What | How it works |
|---|---|
| Security deposit | Maximum 2 weeks of your occupancy fee. We hold it and return it directly to you. |
| When you get it back | Within 14 days of your agreement ending, less anything we're allowed to deduct. |
| What can be deducted | Damage beyond fair wear and tear · unpaid occupancy fees · the reasonable cost of cleaning a room not left reasonably clean · replacing locks you changed without our consent. Nothing else. |
| Fee increases | Never during a fixed term. On month-to-month, at least 4 weeks' written notice. |
Leaving
Two separate things can apply, and they add up — this catches people out.
1. The notice
4 weeks' written notice, whenever you leave — at the end of your term or in the middle of it. Give less, and you still owe the occupancy fee for the rest of the notice period, or until a new occupant moves in, whichever comes first.
2. The break fee
Only if you leave before your fixed term ends. It shrinks the further through the term you are: 2 weeks → 1.5 → 1 → half a week.
The break fee doesn't replace your notice obligation. Leave early without the four weeks and you pay the break fee plus the occupancy fee for the unexpired notice period. The Move-Out Guide has a calculator for each, and the two add together.
When we can enter your room
Only at a reasonable time, with reasonable notice, and for a reason. These are the notice periods in your agreement:
| Reason | Notice you get |
|---|---|
| An emergency, or emergency repairs | Immediate |
| To clean the premises | 24 hours |
| To carry out repairs | 24 hours |
| To show the room to a prospective resident | 24 hours |
| To carry out an inspection | 48 hours |
If we disagree
Come to us first — most things are sorted in an email. If that doesn't work, either of us can take it to the tribunal in your state: NCAT in New South Wales, the Residential Tenancy Commissioner in Tasmania. A termination notice from us is not an eviction; if you don't leave, we have to apply to the tribunal and you get to put your side.
Whole studio, unit or house
A Residential Tenancy Agreement is the standard rental agreement. It gives you more protection than an Occupancy Agreement, and it works differently in almost every respect.
Before you sign: the holding fee
We can only ask for one after your application is approved, and it's capped at one week's rent. Once you pay it we won't let the property to anyone else for 7 days. If you go ahead, the whole amount comes off your first rent. If you change your mind and don't sign, we may keep it — unless we misrepresented the property or didn't tell you something material, in which case you get it back.
Your money
| What | How it works |
|---|---|
| Rental bond | Up to 4 weeks' rent. It is lodged with the state bond authority, not held by us — see your state's tab for which one. |
| Getting it back | Through the authority's claim process. We can't take money out of it ourselves. If we claim part of it and you disagree, the authority or the tribunal decides. |
| Rent in advance | No more than 2 weeks at the start. |
| Holding fee | Maximum 1 week's rent, and it comes off your rent when you sign. |
| Rent increases | At least 60 days' written notice, and only once in any 12 months. |
Repairs
- Report everything through the maintenance form so it's logged and tracked.
- Urgent repairs — a gas leak, no water, no power, flooding, anything unsafe — are arranged as fast as we can, whatever the hour. Call (02) 8188 1605, Option 3.
- A smoke alarm that isn't working is repaired or replaced within 2 business days of you telling us. Call, don't use the form.
- If an urgent repair is needed and you can't reach us, the law lets you arrange it yourself and be reimbursed for reasonable costs. Talk to us first — we'd much rather fix it than reimburse it.
- Never stop paying rent over an outstanding repair; that puts you in breach. Use the urgent-repair route instead.
Ending your tenancy
- Notice periods are set by law and depend on the reason and on where you are — ask us and we'll tell you exactly which applies to your agreement.
- Breaking a fixed term early attracts a break fee on the NSW sliding scale: 4 weeks' rent if less than 25% of the term has passed, then 3, then 2, then 1 week at 75% or more. The estimator is on the Move-Out Guide.
- A termination notice is not an eviction. If you don't leave by the date, we have to apply to the tribunal, and the tribunal decides.
- Once notice is given we'll want to show the property. We agree times with you in advance and give you reasonable notice of each viewing.
The rest of the site is written for rooms in shared houses. Where it describes deposits, notice, rent increases or disputes, this page is the one that applies to you — and if you spot something that contradicts it, tell us so we can fix the page.
New South Wales
Most of what's in our guides applies wherever you live with us. These are the things that are specific to NSW.
| What | In New South Wales |
|---|---|
| Rental bonds | Lodged with Rental Bonds Online, run by NSW Fair Trading, for every Residential Tenancy Agreement. Security deposits for rooms under an Occupancy Agreement are held by CDA and returned directly to you. |
| Disputes | The NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT), for both agreement types. |
| Regulator | NSW Fair Trading |
| Smoke alarms | Repaired or replaced within 2 business days of being reported. |
| Urgent repairs | If we don't arrange them, you may arrange them yourself and be reimbursed for reasonable costs — up to $1,000, repaid within 14 days. |
| Rent increases | Occupancy Agreement: 4 weeks' notice. Residential Tenancy Agreement: 60 days, once in 12 months. |
| E-bikes and batteries | Since 1 February 2025, e-bikes, e-scooters and their batteries and chargers must be certified and carry an approval mark. Only use certified equipment — see the House Rules. |
| Bins | Collection days and what each bin takes are set by your council, not by us. How to find yours. |
Tasmania
Tasmania has its own law, its own bond authority and its own tribunal. Where our other pages name a NSW body, this page is the one that applies to you.
| What | In Tasmania |
|---|---|
| Rental bonds | Lodged with the Rental Deposit Authority, through MyBond — not with CDA and not with Rental Bonds Online. |
| Disputes | The Residential Tenancy Commissioner, not NCAT. NCAT has no jurisdiction in Tasmania. |
| Regulator | Consumer, Building and Occupational Services (CBOS) |
| Repairs | Urgent repairs are arranged as fast as we can and always within 24 hours. General repairs have a shorter statutory deadline than in NSW — ask us and we'll confirm the one that applies to your property. |
| Rent increases | At least 60 days' written notice, and only once in any 12 months. |
| Bins | Set by your council. Not every Tasmanian council runs the same four-bin system — check your council's page. |
Tasmanian properties are let on their own agreements, written for Tasmanian law — not the NSW ones. Our guides grew out of our Sydney properties, so a few pages still name NSW bodies and NSW timeframes; we're working through them. If something on another page doesn't match what's here or what's in your agreement, email [email protected]. You won't be held to the wrong rule, and you'll be helping us fix the page.
This page is a summary written to be readable. Your signed agreement and the law in your state always prevail over anything here. If you want the detail, ask us for a copy of your agreement — or ask us for our privacy policy, which sets out what personal information we collect and why. Email [email protected] and we'll send either one.