Moving out checklist
Information for Queensland public housing tenants
Before you move out
Complete the following tasks before you move out of your home:
- Contact your nearest Housing Service Centre at least 14 days before you leave and tell them you want to move out. If you don't, you might have to pay rent after you leave.
- Complete a Notice of intention to leave (Form 13).
- Pay any rent you owe up to the handover day (the agreed date you’re leaving).
- Tell us your new address or an address where we can contact you.
- Make sure your home (including the yard) is clean and tidy and take all your belongings with you.
- Complete an Exit condition report (Form 14a). This is your record of the condition of your home when you leave.
- Contact your nearest Housing Service Centre to arrange a joint pre-vacancy inspection of your home. We can help you complete the Exit condition report (Form 14a) and talk to you about the condition of your home before you leave. This may help reduce or prevent charges for repairs (other than fair wear and tear), cleaning or rubbish removal.
- Hand the keys in to your nearest Housing Service Centre on handover day with the completed Exit condition report (Form 14a). If you don’t return the keys, we take possession of your home and change the locks. You would have to pay for the new locks, and we would charge you rent until we took back the property.
Read your rights and responsibilities in the Pocket guide for tenants – houses and units (Form 17a), which you received when you signed the state tenancy agreement.
After you move out
Once you move out, we will:
- inspect your home to see if any repairs, cleaning or rubbish removal is required. We will also check if you have left any belongings in your home
- finalise your rental account up to the handover day (or the day we take possession if you don’t return the keys to us)
- send you a letter to let you know if there are any outstanding charges for rent or maintenance
- refund you any money left in your rental account (if you have more than $5 credit) if you’ve given us a forwarding address. This may take up to 6 weeks.
Final property inspection
We will inspect your home again after you leave. During the final inspection, we compare the condition of your home when you left with the condition when you moved in. To do this, we look at the Entry condition report (Form 1a) you completed when you moved in.
This helps us see what repairs are needed because of fair wear and tear. We don’t charge you for this type of repair.
We do charge you for any repairs needed due to damage as well as cleaning or rubbish removal.
Goods left behind
Items left behind will either be disposed of or stored for 30 days. If your items are stored and you do not collect them within 30 days, we will apply for an order from Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT) to dispose of them. You may be charged for costs to store or dispose of your goods.
If you leave anything in your home when you leave, please contact your nearest Housing Service Centre as soon as possible.
Debts for rent or maintenance
We will send you a letter to let you know if you owe money for rent or maintenance/repairs and will contact you to make a repayment arrangement.
Maintenance charges can include repairs (other than fair wear or tear), cleaning, rubbish removal and costs relating to goods left behind (storage and/or disposal). Read more about maintenance debts.
Getting a rental reference
If you would like a rental reference, ask your nearest Housing Service Centre.
Who to tell when you’re moving
Use this list to make sure the right people know you’re moving and your new address.
- Electricity, phone, internet, and gas service providers
- Insurance providers: house contents, health, life, and car
- Employer
- Bank, credit union or building society
- Finance services
- Services Australia – Centrelink, Medicare, and Child Support
- Australian Electoral Commission (AEC)
- Education providers (e.g. child/family day care, kindergarten, school, outside school hours care (OSHC), university/TAFE)
- Health providers (e.g. dentist, doctor and optician)
- Paper deliveries and newspaper/magazine subscriptions
- Car registration
- Driver’s licence
- Superannuation funds
- Vehicle breakdown service (e.g., RACQ)
- Veterinary surgery
- Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA)
- Australian Tax Office (ATO)
- Pet registration (local council)
- Pet Microchip Registry
- Linkt (road toll tags)
- Family and friends
You can pay Australia Post to redirect mail from your old address to your new address.