How is a tenant eligible?

To become an eligible NRAS  tenant you must meet certain income, asset, and residency criteria.  The benefits for a tenant include:

• Pays only 80% of the market rent for up to 10 years
• Access to new dwellings
• Access to professionally managed dwellings
• Proximity to amenities and services which improves the living standard.

Tenants for the properties are required to meet a Federal Government Income Eligibility.  There may also be additional requirements from the respective State governments (for example the Queensland State government also applies an asset and residency test for all applicants).  Tenant Eligibility criteria are updated annually and the 2020/21 NRAS year criteria are as follows:

Household types	Annual income limit for initial tenant eligibility $	Upper income limit for maintaining eligibility $
One adult	$52,324	$65,405
Two adults	$72,341	$90,427
Three adults	$92,358	$115,448
Four adults	$112,375	$140,469
Sole parent with one child	$72,391	$90,489
Sole parent with two children	$89,748	$112,185
Sole parent with three children	$107,105	$133,882
Couple with one child	$89,698	$112,123
Couple with two children	$107,055	$133,819
Couple with three children	$124,412	$155,515

Source: DSS website published limits for the NRAS year 1 May 2020 to 30 April 2021.

Income limits will increase 1 May each year.

This list is not an exhaustive list and other household compositions may be eligible to rent NRAS dwellings if their gross household income for the previous 12 months is below the initial income limit as calculated using the formula as set out in Regulation 19.

To maintain eligibility as a tenant in the Scheme the tenant's income can increase above the initial income limits by 25%.  A tenant ceases to be eligible when income exceeds the upper income limit in two consecutive years.