Housing NSW tenants

Housing NSW has sent a comprehensive response to my questions (which I reproduce below, for the sake of reference).  It makes interesting reading …

1. Is there a policy to place Housing NSW and rent-assisted tenants in privately owned strata developments?
2. If so, does Housing NSW consider the suitability of the individual  strata developments for its tenants?
3. Does Housing NSW consider the suitability of individual tenants for strata developments?
4. How many families does Housing NSW currently have in strata developments?
5. To what lengths does Housing NSW go to make tenants aware of the by-laws (and their enforcement) in the buildings where they are placed?
6. Does Housing NSW have a policy related to complaints and Notices To Comply issued by Executive Committees in strata developments?

From a Housing NSW spokeman – Background:

•  There are many types of ways in which governments in Australia assist people on low incomes to rent private properties.  In the vast majority of cases, the individual receiving rent assistance rents the property directly from a real estate agent and government has no involvement in their tenancy.

• 1.1 million Australians receive rent assistance from the Australian Government to rent privately and they are no different to any other renter.
• Approximately 20,000 people per year are assisted by the NSW Government with a loan for a rental bond for a private rental property.  These people also make their own arrangements to lease properties directly with real estate agents.
• Housing NSW also leases properties in the private market for periods of time to provide additional housing for people on low incomes.

Q1: Does Housing NSW have a policy of placing public housing tenants and rent-assisted tenants in strata development?

& Q4: How many families does Housing NSW currently have in strata developments?

• Most public housing tenants are placed in the 115,000 properties owned by Housing NSW.
• Housing NSW also currently leases around 3,000 properties in the private market. In over 90% of these cases, Housing NSW leases an entire block of units or individual properties which are not part of a block of units. Many of these are strata developments, but Housing NSW leases the whole block so the issue of private neighbours in the same block does not arise.
• Housing NSW has a policy of avoiding leasing individual properties in strata developments.
• In exceptional circumstances a tenant may be placed in an individual property in a strata development, but this applies in less than 200 cases across NSW – 0.2% of its total number of tenants.
• Individuals who receive rent assistance who are not tenants of Housing NSW (and this is the large majority of cases) determine for themselves where they live and their tenancies are not managed by Housing NSW.

Q2: Does Housing NSW consider the suitability of individual strata development for its tenants?

 As above, Housing NSW makes no significant use of this arrangement.

• In exceptional cases, usually where a tenant needs to be close to family or social supports, the arrangement may be considered.
• The suitability of the arrangement would be considered on an individual basis.

Q5: To what lengths does Housing NSW go to make tenants aware of the by-laws

• In the rare case of a Housing NSW tenant being placed in an individual property in a strata development, the tenant will be informed of the arrangements which apply to that property.
• Most rent-assisted tenants are not Housing NSW tenants and sign a lease with the landlord, whose responsibility it is to make them aware of the local conditions of tenancy.

Q6: Does Housing NSW have a policy related to complaints issued by Executive Committees?

• Housing NSW has a complaints procedure and a complaints telephone line for any type of complaint.  Complaints in relation to an individual tenant are investigated and action taken if there is a need for this.
• It should be borne in mind that there are additional elements of the Residential Tenancies Act which apply only to social housing tenants. This means stronger action can be taken in relation to tenants who breach their agreement, for example for anti-social behaviour, than apply to private tenants.

Restoring properties to their original standard

• Most Housing NSW leasing agreements require Housing NSW to restore properties to their original standard at the end of the leasing period, excepting for fair wear and tear.
• Housing NSW consults owners about this and agrees on a schedule of works.
• In a very small number of cases, it is not possible to reach full agreement with owners who may require works over and above what Housing NSW thinks is reasonable, and these matters can be resolved in the Tribunal.
• We are not aware of a case in which Housing NSW used its standard colours to redecorate a leased property.  Housing NSW uses a wide range of colours across its 115,000 properties and precisely seeks to avoid them all having the same colours.
• We value the leasing arrangements we have with private owners.  Housing NSW successfully leases 3,000 properties.  Many hundreds of landlords are delighted with this arrangement and are keen to renew their leases with us and we in turn are keen to have a mutually beneficial arrangement with them.

Great to have you back online Whale. Always enjoy reading your words of wisdom. Am envious of your grey nomad adventure. At the moment the thought of living permanently in a Winnebago is more appealing to me than living in strata. However, I look forward to the day I too can hit the road.

As far your your issue, I believe I have read elsewhere in the forum that a by law such as you suggest may not be possible. As far as having tenants in your complex who have been behind in rent previously, that really will be a problem for the owner and housing commission. You can only hope that they follow by laws and don’t cause trouble for the complex as a whole.

I had an investment property. I had tenants in at one stage that were on welfare, had no real references and I gave them a chance. They fell behind in rent and did a runner. Had some minor damage in the unit but nothing that could really be said was deliberate, just not reported. But I didn’t receive any complaints from the OC about their behavior, or breaching bylaws. So it really only affected me. My landlords insurance took care of most out of pocket expensies. But I was thankful that they didn’t cause any trouble for my neighbours.

Yeah, thanks Strugs and Jimmy.

Frankly I don’t know which way to go, and I know that its a play-on-words, but I was hoping for an “out” to Cl 49 by considering a requirement for Proprietors to seek and obtain the O/C’s consent for sub-leases only (i.e as opposed to prime leases).

The E/C didn’t contemplate that the O/C would ever refuse to grant its consent, but rather that Proprietors wouldn’t want to jump through that hoop, and that even if they did, the O/C could at least express its concerns before a sub-lease was consented.

Clutching at straws, but any further thoughts anyone?  

I’ve just logged back into FC after years of absence, the trigger being an increasingly troublesome Public Housing resident in our small block of 4 lots in Sydney. Housing NSW is the official tenant, I understand, so I guess she is a sub-tenant. I’m theoretically at least supportive of the proposition of social housing, and I’ve generally been tolerant to this person….

This person has over the last few months tended towards being more and more “twitchy” in the block: flighty, nosy, devious, demanding, etc. so that I find myself referring to her as the “princess”: it’s like she’s expecting her own special privileges in the block, like keeping her own rubbish bin which she wheels out for collection while ignoring the common bins; occupation of common property as if it were her own; leaving notes for other residents, etc. All the annoying behavior of a strata busybody with nothing better to be getting on with. And not too troubling. 

BUT this has recently escalated to her making all-too-frequent complaints to the owner of her flat (whereas I suspect this should all go through Housing NSW) which the owner then immediately throws at the Ex Committee with snide remarks that mirror the resident’s own personally troubled world. 

She has also recently been making direct contact with the managing agent (which the MA then passes to the owner saying “not my business”), and recently she contacted another member of the ex committee and sprayed him. She’s escalated now to threats of AVOs, police, etc. Nasty stuff, and very disruptive to the normal operating of the OC. 

Without being prejudicial at all, a mate who knows the block well warns me off doing anything, saying that she looks like someone who has the skills to know how to work the system of public housing. She’s trouble, he says, and certainly he’s right. But as I find that I am now being intimidated by her in my own home, I need to find a solution.

I have spoken to Housing NSW, and they have sent a copy of their Tenancy Agreement; also I know about Acceptable Behaviour Agreements.

Ideally, I would like NSW Housing to step in and tell her that her behaviour is being disruptive and that she ought to pull her head in or she will have to leave. 

Trouble is I am unwilling to act lest the situation deteriorate further, and she turns even more aggressive before anything can be done. I suspect that she’d quickly identify me as the source of the complaint. UGH! 

To complicate matters, prior to this letting, the owner of the flat converted what was a studio flat to a two (!) bedroom flat, with no approval of either the OC or the local council. The rent went up by over 50%, and it’s let to a bothersome resident. All up, other residents are wearing the extra profit that this owner is extracting from his unit. 

I’m wondering whether the FC community has diplomatic suggestions…..

(post edited to remove duplicated section that it appears was inadvertently a cut/paste from MSWord® or similar….Whale 1240 22/07)

I had a very similar problem with a housing client who occupied a unit in a scheme where my wife and I then owned a holiday unit, that for the record we didn’t rent.

I was secretary of the executive committee at the time, and so on every occasion that we visited our unit I was immediately hit with tales of this person’s shenanigans, and with pleas from other residents to do something about it.

As is my way, like you I tried to reason with this person without success, so in the end the other members of the committee and myself formally met, and devised and minuted an approach based on the criteria that:

1. The tenant of the unit in question was Housing NSW
2. While Housing NSW has some exemptions from the provisions of the Residential Tenancies Act, none apply to the provisions of the Strata Schemes Management Act (SSMA)
   
3. Sect 5 of the SSMA states that “this act binds the crown”, which reinforces the fact that Housing NSW is bound by all of its provisions.

So based upon all the above, the executive committee resolved to issue Housing NSW with a “Notice to Comply” relative to each specific By-Law that its client had breached and about which they’d been made aware by members of the committee, including for creating a disturbance, parking vehicles on common property, obstructing common property, poor behaviour, and for using balcony railing as a clothesline.

Each Notice to Comply (5 in total) was sent to the Regional Manager of Housing, who within a few days contacted me by phone to express his indignation, and to claim that his Department was not required to comply with the SSMA because it effectively absolved itself of its responsibility to do so in the Agreement that it has with its clients.

I politely explained what had been going on with his client and the three (3) criteria that we’d adopted, whereupon the Regional Manager advised that he’d be seeking legal advice, and that he’d make contact afterwards.

In a surprising short time (a few days as I remember) I was contacted by an ex-London “bobby” who then held the position of the “Anti-antisocial Behaviour Officer” with Housing NSW (only a Govt. could create such a job title!), who arranged to meet the committee over a coffee (he paid) to discuss their client’s shenanigans and our discussions with her which we’d documented, whereupon he advised that the Department held the lease over an Office in town to enable him to have “meaningful discussions” with problem clients, and that he’d arrange to meet with our problem.

We weren’t advised of any details of what was discussed, but I did receive a phone call to advise that Housing NSW’s client in our scheme would be relocated; no doubt so that other strata dwellers in town could be annoyed and harassed by her.

After a lot of finger pointing, and threats to stay put by this woman and her male friends, she and her possessions were quietly moved out at the expense of NSW Taxpayers!

The best outcome of all was a very polite letter from Housing NSW’s Regional Manager to confirm in general terms what had happened, to advise who we should instead contact if any further problems arose, and specifically to undertake that any future clients that were considered to occupy any unit in our scheme where NSW Housing held the Head Lease would be from a list of existing clients with whom the Department had “history”, and who it believed would be worthy of / be grateful for a beach-front unit with a wonderful view.

So in addition to following Jimmy’s sound advice to start at the end, I’d strongly recommend the concurrent implementation of our start at the beginning approach; just make sure that everything’s documented in terms of the client’s disruptive behaviour, dates/ times of discussions with them, and with the convening / decisions / minutes of committee meetings.

PS – I forgot to mention that in 2012 we did Register the Special By-Law mentioned in post #22, and have since been able to use the notice of intention that it provides to dissuade some (but not all) owners from sub-letting to Housing NSW and to similar community groups that they fund without considering anything other than the long-term and secure rental income that such arrangements provide. That’s proven difficult though when representatives of some social justice leaning community housing providers work directly with local property managers who like the easy commission/s and ongoing fees for managing nothing! (1515hrs 24/07)

Wow look at this. I thought this was a thread where people in government, social or corporate housing could come to rant about their helplessness in a community that abandoned them. Battered wives, underpaid nurses and cleaners, cripples and low-income elderly.

Many of them are still dying as homeless nomads so owners can pump every cent out of rentals. Singles end up in a tyrannical poverty traps that steals all your choices of where and how you live simply because the plight is so desperate and there is nowhere. Just having the address destroys your life choices and brands you as less than human. I just had a cop tell me that I should get a job and buy a house. I was forced here and when I arrived I was a handicapped and exhibiting artist, a business owner, a published poet, a web designer, a blogger and a man who is so ill he can often not get to his feet. What am I now after all that painful effort? To you I am a houso and you have got yourselves all worked up and nasty about it.

I needed help so I came here ro see if anyone else in government housing was as desperate as I have been. Now I see what is going on I understand why people can harm us without regret. I am gonna die here. Soon. So be happy.

Does it feel like anger does it Jimmy? I dont see any anger at all in my post. I see desperation and despair. I see you giving me a big dose of the denial that drives so many of us to suicide.

I am directing my comments to those who are causing the problem and who are sitting on their hands while whole sections of the community are driven into homelessness and suicide.

I am one of the people who has been disinherited and now I have those people who are angry about being dealt a bad hand at my throat, and the people who dont like Jews and the people who think they should be able to stand over the disabled, and people who resent self-motivated and educated cripples. I am in a fight for survival that has gone on for years and which I am going to lose. I have a journal with almost two thousand entries that follows my ruin and the way it has been imposed on me for years.

There is a crisis that has already killed twenty times what died in 9/11. We are having our lives and futures ruined now. I saw elderly driven from their homes to die. I saw despair kill elderly people driven into single ghettos. I saw an old man driven from his home where he had set up a radio repair business driven into the tyranny of singles housing with most of f a lifetime’s tools left behind. He died quite quickly. My friends have committed suicide to the tune of thirty people I know and many of them were homeless when they gave up

How urgent do you think a thousand more lives are? Ten thousand? An entire low-income sub-culture? When you know what is killing them and can stop it but dont, its murder Jimmy. They are murdering us. Right now