Reformed Rent. Generally, rent reforms involving fair rent setting and regular collection of the new rent, have been more timely, although again progress varies across jurisdictions, as does methodology. Ahead of the NPARIH, the Queensland Government had moved, to increase rent levels in remote Indigenous communities to match arrangements under its broader One Social Housing System as it built new houses and refurbished existing houses. Rent was increased from an average of $60 a week per household to 25 per cent of total household income. It has continued this practice with NPARIH funded housing. Similarly, tenants in the Northern Territory have been required to pay the new rent levels as soon as they move into upgraded or new housing. There are examples where tenants have moved into their new or refurbished housing and are still paying pre-reform, low levels of rent. Where this is occurring useful leverage is lost in terms of residents understanding and accepting that higher rent levels come with upgraded housing. Tenancy managers are finding the longer the tenants are living in new housing without paying appropriate rent, the harder it is to implement the new rent arrangements, which in turn reduces the level of funding available for ongoing repairs and maintenance. This has the potential to impact on program sustainability, when rent does not adequately contribute to the cost of property and tenancy management. Rent Setting The NPARIH requires rent to be set consistent with public housing arrangements. This generally means that rent is set at a proportion of assessable income for a household. In the case of the Northern Territory, this applies to all tenants in a house who have signed the tenancy agreement. In remote communities, this can be a complex and costly system to administer and difficult for tenants to fully understand. There can also be additional costs associated with changes to household income-based rent arrangements where household composition frequently changes as a result of tenant mobility. Almost all jurisdictions have raised the need to review these arrangements and implement a simpler, less costly system. Rent reforms in NSW use a robust, relatively straightforward dwelling based system that is less complex to administer, and NSW intends to keep using this model for at least another 12 months. There is an opportunity for governments to keep both systems under review over the next year and to assess the advantages and disadvantages of each arrang...
Reformed Rent. The introduction of reformed rent levels is progressing well in most jurisdictions but remains a challenge in some, with pre-reform rent continuing to be collected in some cases after tenants have moved into their new accommodation. There is a critical, logical link between the capital works upgrades and the requirement for tenants to pay fair rent. The longer this issue is left unaddressed the harder it is to leverage off that linkage so that tenants who have paid low rent, or no regular rent, in the past understand the reason for an increase in rent payments in the new accommodation. In addition, without the necessary reform there will be less funding available for repairs and maintenance, an important protection for both tenants and sustainability of the housing assets. Under the NPARIH, rent is set consistently with public housing arrangements, meaning generally rent is set at a proportion of assessable income for a household and. in the Northern Territory, for all tenants in a house who have signed a tenancy agreement. The system can be complex and costly to administer in remote communities with highly mobile populations, and difficult for tenants to fully understand. Almost all jurisdictions have raised the need to review these arrangements and implement a simpler, less costly system. NSW is using a robust, relatively straightforward dwelling based system that is less complex to administer, and intends to keep using this model for at least another 12 months. There would be an opportunity for governments to keep both systems under review over the next year and to assess the advantages and disadvantages of each arrangement. Structural Issues - Service Delivery Property and tenancy management is implemented through different service delivery models. This tends to be either through direct delivery by government housing authorities, the use of a service provider network or a mix of both models.
