NSW: Public housing tenants lose tenure and face rent hikes

AAP General News (Australia)
04-27-2005
NSW: Public housing tenants lose tenure and face rent hikes

By Peter Jean and David Crawshaw

SYDNEY, April 27 AAP - Public housing tenants in NSW will lose the right to life-long
government housing and many will face substantial rent increases this year, the NSW government
has warned.

As part of the biggest shake-up of public housing in 50 years, all new public housing
tenants will be placed on fixed-term leases of between two and 10 years.

About a third of the state's 130,000 public housing households will also face rent
increases from July 1.

To encourage those who can afford it to move into private housing, tenants on moderate
incomes will have to pay 30 per cent of their income in rent, up from 25 per cent.

About 12,500 tenants paying full market rent will pay an average $30 a week more, but
in some cases a lot more, as prices are updated to reflect current property conditions.

Households which currently pay 11 per cent of their Family Tax Benefit in rent, will
face an increase of one per cent per year over the next three years and all public housing
tenants will have to pay for water.

NSW Premier Bob Carr said the move to fixed term leases, which will not affect current
tenants, was aimed at freeing up public housing for people who really needed it.

"We're fundamentally ending the idea of public housing for life," Mr Carr told reporters.

Housing Minister Joe Tripodi said tenants would have their eligibility for government
housing reassessed at the end of their leases.

"Under the new arrangements we'll make an assessment and ask you for example, `please
explain where you got your BMW from and what kind of lifestyle you're living,'" he told
reporters today.

"And if you can't explain, you'll be asked to leave."

NSW Council of Social Services director Gary Moore said he doubted whether people forced
into the private rental market would find affordable housing in Sydney.

"We're concerned about the group of so-called modest-income earners for whom the private
rental market is seen as the salvation," Mr Moore said.

Opposition Leader John Brogden backed the introduction of fixed-term leases, saying
the changes would benefit people who were currently on the public housing waiting list.

"We support a good plan like this," he told reporters.

The increases in rents for people on moderate incomes will apply to single tenants
earning $29,000 or more a year, single parents with two children earning $38,000 or more
a year and couples with two children earning $46,00 or more a year.

The government plans to use the $640 million raised from the rent increases over the
next 10 years on upgrading or building 30,000 new public houses.

AAP pj/jel/jt/bwl

KEYWORD: HOUSING NIGHTLEAD

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