Change address, housing costs or contact details

Getting Student Loan, Student Allowance or scholarship

You can update your address and contact details online, in MyStudyLink in the 'Personal details' section.

If your accommodation costs have changed (for example rent or board), you don't need to tell us unless you're a sole parent. If you are a sole parent, you’ll need to tell us:

• who you live with
• how much you're now paying
• when the costs changed.

We'll let you know if you need to do anything else like providing proof of costs.

If you're a sole parent you can update your accommodation costs online, in MyStudyLink, in the 'Personal details' section. You may have to give us evidence of this. We'll let you know when you update your details.

Getting any other payment (e.g. Accommodation Supplement)

Email us or call us to tell us about these changes. You'll need to tell us:

• your address
• the details of who you live with
• how much you're now paying and how often
• when the costs changed. 

If your accommodation costs have changed (for example rent or board), you may have to give us evidence of this. We'll let you know when you contact us.

Student Allowance

If you're getting a Student Allowance and your living situation has changed (for example you're now living with your parents), it could affect your payment. If you're getting an Accommodation Benefit, this payment could also be affected.

If you're a sole parent and your accommodation costs (for example rent or board) have changed, it could also affect your Accommodation Benefit.

You can check what your next payment will be online, in MyStudyLink, under 'Payment information'.

Student Loan living costs

If your Student Allowance payment is affected, the amount you can get for living costs will also change.

This is because your Student Loan living costs are automatically reduced by the amount of Student Allowance you get.

Example

You're getting weekly living costs payments of $323.43. If you get $200 a week for a Student Allowance, you'll only be able to get $123.43 for living costs, to make up a total of $323.43.

If, when you change address, your Student Allowance goes up to $220 a week because you're not living with your parents anymore, your living costs payment will be automatically adjusted to $103.43.

Getting other payments

If your accommodation costs have changed, the amount you get may need to be adjusted.

All our payments are made a week in arrears. This means that if the change has affected your payment, the new amount will be paid to you a week after the change is made.

When people tell us about their accommodation costs, we ask them:

• if they pay board or rent, or get paid board or rent
• who they pay it to, or are paid by
• how much and how often those payments are.

If both the boarder/renter and the person they pay board or rent to (e.g. their landlord or the head tenant) are getting either a housing subsidy or are living in public housing, we need to independently check this information with each of them.

If it doesn't match, we need to contact both these people to get the correct details. This is part of meeting their obligations.

We'll try calling them first. If we can't contact them by phone, we'll send them a letter giving them 10 working days to confirm the correct details

If they don't confirm or still don’t agree, after the 10 working days:

• if they get a housing subsidy from Work and Income (e.g. Accommodation Supplement), this will stop
• if they are a public housing tenant, we will notify the housing provider and the rent may go up to market rent
• if they are getting Accommodation Benefit as a sole parent, their payments will not stop, however it is still important they confirm the correct details.