Additional occupant contributions

From 2 March 2026, when a social housing tenant gets contributions from additional occupants living in the same premises, the accommodation income must be assessed to determine whether there is chargeable income. Additional occupant contributions for periods prior to 2 March 2026 are charged as income based on previous settings.

When accommodation income is more than the market rent for the social housing property, the excess amount is income and must be charged against any income tested assistance that uses the definition of income in the Social Security Act 2018. This includes but is not limited to main benefits and supplementary assistance.

Income from additional occupant contributions is charged over the period it represents.

When a property is tenanted by more than one person, the client who gets the payment will have it assessed as income. When the payment is split between multiple tenants (e.g., gets paid into a joint account), the payment will be split when assessing it as income.

For social housing tenants or those on the housing register, contributions from additional occupants are not treated as assessable income when calculating Income Related Rent and eligibility for social housing.

For more information see:

• Income Related Rent Assessable income

When a client gets contributions from additional occupants living in the same premises, 62% of the contribution is accommodation income.

Note 38% of the contribution is excluded as income.

For social housing tenants getting Income Related Rent, the market rent of the property is the market rent as at the most recent change in circumstances or annual rent review.

Example - social housing tenant with additional occupant contributions

Carlos is a social housing tenant in a 3-bedroom house with market rent of $500 a week.

He gets Jobseeker Support and he works part time earning $250 a week. His two sons live with him, and they each pay contributions of $412.50 a week. The total accommodation income is $511.50 (62% of all contributions).

The accommodation income he gets is more than the market rent for the property and is chargeable income for his Jobseeker Support. His income is calculated as $511.50 - $500 = $11.50 a week.

$11.50 a week is combined with his earnings from part time work ($250 a week) and is charged against his Jobseeker Support.

Accommodation income

Chargeable income