Apply for a discount on your public housing rent

How much rent you’ll pay

All public housing tenants pay rent. The amount of rent you'll pay depends on your income.

You’ll pay either the full market rent or the discounted rent.

Full market rent

Every home has a different full market rent.

This is because of things like the number of bedrooms, renovations, the suburb and block size. An independent valuer will decide the market rent.

Discounted rent

You can apply to get a discount on your rent (called a rental rebate).

If you can get a rental rebate your rent will be 25% of your total household income.

If you don’t apply for or cannot get the rental rebate, you’ll pay the full rent for your home.

Applying for the rental rebate

You can apply for a rental rebate after you sign your lease. When you apply for a rental rebate you’ll need to prove your income to Housing ACT.

How we assess your household income

We don’t include all income when we assess your rental rebate application.

Find out what income is included and not included.

Documents you need when you apply

You’ll need proof of income for everyone in your household.

Your documents must be recent (not more than 4 weeks old).

We may ask to see income you’ve earned over the past 26 weeks.

Check the proof of income documents for Housing ACT.

If you give us false information

It is fraud if you deliberately do any of the following when you apply for a rental rebate:

• give us false information
• do not give us the information you should
• do not tell us about a household member’s income.

How to apply

1. Download and fill in the Application for Rental Rebate [PDF 164kB]. You can also ask your housing manager to give you a copy.
2. Get copies of your household income documents.
3. Email your application and documents to CSDHousingRebateTeam@act.gov.au or give them to us in person.

If Centrelink is your only income

We can set up an automatic rebate. You'll need to give us permission to:

• check how much you get from Centrelink every year (called the income confirmation service)
• work out how much rent you must pay
• automatically renew your rental rebate discount every year, as long as your income and the people in your household does not change.

To set up an automatic rental rebate:

1. Download and fill in the Continuing authority form [PDF 272kB].
2. Return the form to us by:
   • email to CSDHousingRebateTeam@act.gov.au
   • take a photo and text it to 0466 369 947
   • give it to us in person.

When you must reapply

You must reapply for the rental rebate every 12 months.

You'll get a reminder letter before your rebate application is due.

If you do not reapply by the due date

We will charge you the full market rent for your home.

If you are not living in the home

You will not get a rental rebate.

You may get the rebate if you are away from the home for less than 3 months.

You must tell your housing manager in writing if you are going to be away for more than 4 weeks.

Contact us

You can visit us at Housing ACT.