Renting in Brisbane

The situation right now

What it costs

Asking rents on the portals; what people actually pay is often lower for older contracts and higher for furnished short lets. Deposits and what can legally be charged on top are on the Australia page. The euro values are there to compare cities: rounded, a month, at the exchange rates of 20 October 2026 (how we convert).

Where to search

Local tips

Gathered from local forums, city subreddits and expat groups, rewritten in our own words. They are what people who have done this say helped; none of it is a guarantee.

1. Set alerts on both portals and be ready to apply the same day

   With vacancies under 1%, there is little to choose from and well-priced units draw a crowd. Save searches on realestate.com.au and Domain for your suburbs and weekly budget with instant alerts, go to every open inspection that fits, and send your application the same evening.

   Source: SQM Research, August 2026; Domain listings, 1 October 2026

2. Use the Form 22 rules to your advantage

   Queensland agents must use the standard application (Form 22) and may ask for at most two documents each for identity, ability to pay and suitability. They may not ask for bank statements showing transactions, past tribunal cases or bond claims, and must offer one free way to apply that does not go through a third-party platform, such as email to the agent. Build one complete, tidy file and reuse it.

   Source: RTA, application process, 2026

3. No Australian rental history? Show your savings and your job

   Form 22 lets you prove ability to pay with proof of savings or an account balance rather than local payslips, and you may add documents of your own choosing. Attach an employer letter or contract, references and payment records from your last landlord abroad, and a short cover note on your move. Offering more rent does not help: agents may not accept it.

   Source: RTA, application process and rent bidding, 2026

4. Check the flood map before you sign

   Look up the address on the council's Flood Awareness Map and switch on the February 2022 flood layer. Low-lying streets near the river and creeks are the most exposed. Ask the agent whether the home or its car park flooded in 2022. If a flood makes the home unliveable, you can end the tenancy with a notice given within a month of the event.

   Source: Brisbane City Council, Flood Awareness Map and FAQs, 2026; RTA, property becomes unliveable

5. Compare the price with the bond data

   The RTA's quick finder gives the median rent people actually signed for in each postcode, by dwelling type and bedrooms. A rent well below it is a warning sign of a scam; one well above it may sit empty long enough to be worth waiting for.

   Source: RTA, median rents quick finder and rental scams page, 2026

6. Look along the train lines to Logan, Ipswich and Moreton Bay

   A one-bed unit had a median of A$315 a week on new leases in Logan, A$365 in Ipswich and A$390 in Moreton Bay in April-June 2026, against A$575 in the City of Brisbane. Every Translink bus, train and ferry trip now costs a flat 50 cents, however far you go, so a longer commute costs time rather than money.

   Source: RTA median rents, June quarter 2026; Translink, 2026

7. In a room, ask whether you are a tenant, a resident or a lodger

   A room let by an owner who lives in the home usually makes you a boarder or lodger, outside the tenancy law except for the bond. Private student blocks are usually rooming accommodation with their own rules. A sublet from a head tenant needs the landlord's permission. Whatever the arrangement, any bond you pay must be lodged with the RTA and receipted.

   Source: RTA, boarders and lodgers, students, and share homes pages, 2026

8. Read the date of the last rent increase in the lease

   In Queensland the once-a-year limit on rent increases attaches to the property, so a new tenant does not reset it, and the lease must state when the rent last went up. If it rose less than 12 months ago, it cannot rise again until that anniversary.

   Source: RTA, rent increases, as of 2026-09

9. Avoid the summer rush if you can

   Asking rents usually firm from October into December and January, and students arrive before semester 1 early in the year. SQM expects Brisbane rents to keep rising into summer. If your dates are flexible, March to August brings slightly less pressure; student blocks fill early, and many Scape room types were sold out by 1 October 2026.

   Source: SQM Research, August 2026 vacancy report; Scape Brisbane, October 2026

10. Check the agent's licence

    Almost 90% of Queensland rentals are managed by licensed agents or property managers. Look up the agent on the Office of Fair Trading's free register, use the agency's official phone number or office rather than one given in a message, and pay only into an account in the agency's name.

    Source: RTA, rental scams page, 2026; Office of Fair Trading

Neighbourhoods

• CBD and Spring Hill higher rents

  Mostly high-rise apartments: a one-bed unit has a median of A$600 a week on a new lease and a two-bed A$850 (April-June 2026). Closest to the offices, with rooms in shared flats from about A$255 a week; well-priced units go fast.

• New Farm, Teneriffe, Fortitude Valley and Newstead higher rents

  One-beds run at a median of A$625-640 a week and two-beds A$780-820. Riverside New Farm and Teneriffe are mostly older flats and houses; the Valley is the nightlife district, and Newstead and the Valley have new towers, including the city's first build-to-rent blocks.

• West End and South Brisbane higher rents

  The dearest units in the inner ring: one-beds have a median of A$660 a week and two-beds A$850, and share-house rooms ask A$320-500. Close to South Bank and the CBD and popular with students and young professionals; check low streets near the river on the flood map.

• Paddington, Milton and Red Hill higher rents

  Inner-west suburbs of houses and smaller blocks of units. One-beds cost a median A$595 a week in Paddington and Milton, but three-bed houses A$960, among the highest in the city.

• Toowong and St Lucia mid-range

  The University of Queensland's home: one-bed units have a median of A$450 a week in St Lucia and A$550 in Toowong, and rooms in share houses ask about A$185-390, mostly with bills. Demand peaks before semester 1, early in the year.

• Woolloongabba and Kangaroo Point mid-range

  Inner southside areas just across the river from the CBD: one-beds cost a median A$550-585 a week and two-beds about A$795-800, a little below the inner north.

• Northside and southside suburbs: Nundah, Lutwyche, Chermside, Annerley, Greenslopes, Coorparoo mid-range

  Middle-ring suburbs with older blocks of flats and houses, and better value: one-beds have medians of A$450-550 a week and two-beds A$600-650. Check the commute on Translink's journey planner before you apply.

• Logan, Ipswich and Moreton Bay lower rents

  The neighbouring councils are where rents drop: three-bed houses have medians of A$580-630 a week and one-beds A$315-390. Train stations include Ipswich and Springfield, Logan Central and Beenleigh, and Kippa-Ring (Redcliffe) and Caboolture in Moreton Bay, and fares are a flat 50 cents, but commutes are long.

What landlords ask for

Have these ready as PDFs before the first viewing; in Brisbane the flat often goes to whoever sends a complete file first.

• Queensland's standard rental application (Form 22), or an agent's version that complies with it. Agents may ask only for what the form covers: name and contacts, past tenancies, employment, income, referees, intended lease length, date of birth, number of occupants, vehicles and pets.
• Identity: up to two documents, usually your passport with visa and, if you have one, an Australian driver licence. The agent may sight them and take notes, but may keep a copy only with your consent (RTA).
• Ability to pay: up to two documents such as payslips, an employment contract or employer letter, or bank statements or proof of balance without transaction details. Without regular income, proof of savings or past payslips count.
• Suitability: up to two documents such as a rental ledger and references from previous agents or landlords. From abroad, a landlord reference and payment record, translated if needed. You may add extra documents voluntarily, such as a student's confirmation of enrolment.
• Agents may not ask about past tribunal cases, breach notices or bond claims, or for credit or transaction history, and may not charge an application fee.
• Money for the start: a bond of up to four weeks' rent, lodged with the RTA within 10 days, and up to two weeks' rent in advance (one month on a fixed-term lease). A holding deposit may only be taken once you have been given a copy of the proposed lease, and it becomes part of the bond when you sign (RTA fact sheet from 2021, the latest found).

Scams typical of Brisbane

• The listing that cannot be inspected

  A home below market rent appears on Facebook Marketplace, Gumtree or a room site with photos copied from a real listing. The 'owner' is away or overseas and offers to send the keys once you pay the bond. The RTA notes that scammers always have an excuse for why you cannot visit. Ask a friend to inspect if you are not in Brisbane, and never pay for a place nobody you trust has been inside.

• Pay now to secure it, then the door opens on someone else's home

  After a video walk-through, the advertiser asks for bond and rent by bank transfer to secure the place, and stops answering. When you arrive, the home is occupied by people who never meant to let it. Queensland Police and the RTA describe this pattern on social media groups; in Queensland the bond must go to the RTA, not to a personal account.

• Real photos, wrong address on the lease

  Some scams use pictures of a genuine rental but put a different house or unit number on the draft lease. Check that the agreement is on the RTA's standard form, that the address matches the place you inspected, and that you get a copy of the proposed lease before paying any money, as the law requires.

• The 'new owner' letter

  Once you are renting, a letter that looks like it comes from your agency says the property has changed hands and asks you to pay rent into a new account. The RTA warned Queensland tenants about this in June 2025. Call the agency on the number from its website before changing any payment.

• Applications that harvest your identity

  A 'landlord' sends a form asking for passport scans, bank logins or card details, or charges an application fee. In Queensland agents may only collect what Form 22 allows and may not charge to apply. Apply through the agent directly or a known platform, and never share passwords.

• A room from a head tenant who has no right to sublet

  Someone renting a house advertises rooms, takes cash bonds and either vanishes or packs in more people than the landlord allows, and everyone has to leave. Ask to see the lease and the landlord's written permission, and insist that your bond is lodged with the RTA and receipted.

How long it takes

Where to get help

• Tenants QueenslandQueensland's tenant advocacy service, based in Spring Hill: a free statewide advice line (1300 744 263, weekdays 9am-5pm, to 7pm on Tuesdays and Wednesdays) and factsheets on applications, bonds, repairs and ending a tenancy.
• QSTARS (Queensland Statewide Tenant Advice and Referral Service)A free, independent advice and referral service for all Queensland renters, reached on the same statewide number (1300 744 263).
• Residential Tenancies Authority (RTA)Holds every Queensland bond, runs the free dispute resolution service that most disputes must go through before QCAT, investigates rent bidding and non-compliant applications, and publishes the median rents data (1300 366 311).
• Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT)Decides tenancy disputes that RTA conciliation cannot resolve, and urgent matters such as lockouts or urgent repairs (see the Australia page).
• Caxton Legal CentreA Brisbane community legal centre giving free legal information and appointments to people who are disadvantaged or on a low income (1800 229 866).
• 1800 QSTUDYQueensland's free 24-hour hotline for international students (1800 778 839), with accommodation advice and legal and complaint referrals, and a translation service.
• ScamwatchThe federal scam reporting service run by the National Anti-Scam Centre. If you have lost money, tell your bank at once and report it through ReportCyber or Policelink (131 444), as the RTA advises; complaints about agents go to the Office of Fair Trading.

Questions people ask about renting in Brisbane