Prepare to be taken aback yourself. In the quarter to December 2008, Housing NSW made 232 applications against tenants alleged to be in breach of their obligation to pay water usage charges. By contrast, private sector landlords made just 128 such applications.
Even more alarming, Housing NSW made an additional 633 applications for orders terminating the tenancies of public housing tenants for failure to pay water usage charges. Private sector landlords made no such applications – not a single one.
Put another way, water usage proceedings represented over 30 per cent of all Housing NSW's proceedings in the Tribunal. In fact, of all the applications for orders made in the Tribunal's tenancy and social housing divisions – by landlords and by tenants – about one in twelve was by Housing NSW about water usage.
This level of litigation over water usage charges is absurd. That this litigation should put at risk the tenancies of 633 households – who are very likely to be poor and vulnerable households who would end up homeless if they were evicted – is outrageous.
Sure, I accept the argument that public housing's poor households are more likely to fall behind in water usage payments than household generally. And I accept that Housing NSW has a legal right to take proceedings in the event of breach. But the absurdly high level of litigation about water usage really calls into question the general standard of decision-making by Housing NSW officers.
(Drips.)
It also calls into question the way Housing NSW charges for water use – though that's always been dubious. No-one in private rental or homeownership pays for water like public housing tenants do – and governments would not think of asking them to.
Since 2005, special amendments to the Residential Tenancies Act have allowed Housing NSW to charge for water usage under 'guidelines' specific to public housing. Under these guidelines, tenants of properties without water meters (and about half of all public housing properties are not metered) are charged according to their rebated rent and, hence, their household income. This 'water usage charge', therefore, has nothing to do with the amount of water the household actually uses.
For public housing tenants in metered properties, the situation is less daft, but still odd. At first they pay according to their rebated rent, like those in unmetered properties, until they've been there for a complete billing cycle from the local water authority and Housing NSW can work out the actual water usage. This becomes the basis of the water usage charge over the next billing cycle, and their actual water usage over the second billing cycle becomes the basis of the charge over the third cycle, and so on, with credits and debits added to account for differences from cycle to cycle.
It really is daft, and makes you wonder in how many of those Tribunal proceedings is there a tenant, deliberately or otherwise, reacting against the irrationality and injustice of the system.
Well said, Chris...
ReplyDeleteOn the question of "judgement" and use of the CTTT by Housing generally, it has to be said that water is just the tip of the ice-burg.
I was helping a tenant in the Tribunal just the other day, and we were waiting to have a consent order rubber stamped by the member of the day. We had to wait our turn as a HNSW officer had started going through her ex-parte list while we were out negotiating.
The long and short of it is HNSW kept us waiting for 15 minutes over an arrears matter. For $32.00!
Thirty two bucks!
It cost them thirty-three to make the bleeding application!
... and we can add 'ice berg' to the dreadful aquatic puns ('floods', 'drips') provoked by Housing's water charge idiocy. Thanks, N.C.!
ReplyDeleteNC ->$32.00? A small fortune compared to the one I had before the Tribunal a few weeks ago.
ReplyDeleteThe Department was seeking $16 in water arrears from the tenant. An amount it should be noted, that was paid (in full!) as soon as it was requested.
Housing decided the matter really should continue to the Tribunal regardless. It does them good to get out of the office, they don't often get the chance, the poor dears. Inspections are just such hard work.
I am a Housing NSW tenant and things are very bad regarding termination notices and bullying for water and rent arrears. A computer makes rent and water liabilities by a programmed formula projecting potential household circumstances and not on the actual proof of income provided. You must pay the rent immediately or you will receive a termination notice in one month. For example the computer is programmed to note changes in age which trigger eligibilty for Cth assistance payments, when an occupant's birthday occurs it makes a decision to raise a rent liability because it hasn't been given any details so it is required to charge on the whole potential payment until actual those details are provided. Details explaining ineligibility are not entered or in reality not accepted. I have received 4 of these letters since September 2009 and a termination notice 2 weeks after I disputed the amount and complained that I had provided the correct documentation, I even complained to the Minister but have never receved a reply although he told the NSW Ombudsman that the matter had been finalised when I paid the termination notice. They forced me to pay $1000 above the amount on the notice before they would agree to cancel the notice. On the day I received my termination notice (early January) 19 other notices were issued in my neighbourhood. I tracked 7 others 3 moved out and 4 others are still fighting. I borrowed money to pay it because I throw up from stress when I receive Housing NSW letters or phone calls and cannot maintain my health if I have to deal with Housing NSW staff.
ReplyDeleteLiving in Social Housing is torture but I have no where else to go :-(