Rental Application Form for Residential Property

This Rental Application Form is for use when applying to rent a residential property.

This document captures all of the applicant's relevant information such as:

• their full name and contact details.
• details of any children that will be living with them.
• details of any other adults that will be living with them (although other adults should also fill out their own Rental Application Form).
• their passport details and/or drivers licence details.
• their employment details including current income. These details may be set out in their Employment Agreement or Letter of Offer of Employment.
• details of references.
• emergency contact details.
• further information such as how long they want to rent for, any pets, any other occupants, and whether they have ever been evicted before.

This document makes it easy for owners/property managers to quickly review any rental applications. It also helps applicants to stand out from the pack, by presenting their application in an easy to follow and well organised manner.

How to use this document

If the property owner manages the property themselves, then they may provide applicants with a link to this document, and ask them to fill it out and return a copy to the owner. Alternatively, the owner may download a generic version of the document in Word format and provide a copy of the Word document to each applicant. Again, applicants should fill out the form with all of their relevant information, and then return a copy to the owner. They may send it by email or physical mail, or they may hand it to the owner personally.

If the owner uses a property manager to manage the property, then the property manager may organise the application form and deal with applicants on the owner's behalf.

Some owners find that an easy way to manage this is to include a link to this document in the property advertisement.

If several adults are applying to rent the property together, then each of them should prepare a separate copy of the Rental Application Form, as it collects important information which the property owner/property manager will want to know about each adult. Children (under the age of 18) do not generally need to fill out a copy of this Rental Application Form.

Once the owner/manager has received copies of the document from all applicants, they can review the relevant information and contact any relevant references. If the owner/manager asks applicants to fill out this form, and some applicants do not bother to do it, this can be a good sign that they may not be responsible tenants. After reviewing all applications, the owner/manager can select their tenants, and then notify all of the applicants about their decision. As a courtesy, it is a good idea to notify all unsuccessful applicants as well as the successful applicants.

Once that is done, the owner/manager will need to prepare a residential lease. This Rental Application Form is not a residential lease. This Rental Application Form is intended for use when applying to rent residential property such as an apartment, house or a bedroom. It is not intended for commercial properties. Use a Commercial Property Application Form for commercial properties.

Applicable law

Each state and territory also has its own legislation regarding residential tenancies.

Further information or legal assistance, particularly in relation to residential properties is available from consumer affairs offices, tenant unions or tenant advice services in each state and territory. Community legal centres may also provide assistance.

In some cases, real estate agents may be covered by the Privacy Act 1988 (Commonwealth). For example, if they have an annual turnover of more than $3 million then they may be covered. Or if they opt-in to the Privacy Act 1988 (Commonwealth) then they will be covered. If the Privacy Act 1988 (Commonwealth) applies, then there will be restrictions in relation to what sort of information can be collected and how it should be handled. The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner provides further information.

How to modify the template

You fill out a form. The document is created before your eyes as you respond to the questions.

At the end, you receive it in Word and PDF formats. You can modify it and reuse it.