The
Tenancy Team
North
East Housing Service (NEHS) is funded by the Office of
Housing and Community Building. The Tenancy Team’s primary role is
to provide and manage transitional housing for people who are
experiencing homelessness or are potentially homeless.
What
are transitional properties and how do people get
selected?
The
Tenancy Team at NEHS manage 255 transitional properties in the
Darebin, Nilumbik, Whittlesea and Banyule Local Government
Areas. The housing we provide is “transitional” or short term
which means that a tenancy with us is for a limited time. We
manage properties of many styles and sizes, with 1 to 5 bedrooms,
and some with disability modifications.
One of
the conditions of moving into a NEHS managed property is that the
tenant has, or is working on, a housing plan to secure long-term
housing in the future. Our tenant’s also need to continue to
actively engage with their support workers during their time in our
property to address any further needs they may have.
A housing
plan may include:
• Seeking
private rental;
• Seeking
shared or community housing; or
•
Applying for and getting approval for early housing with
the
Office of
Housing on their segmented wait list.
The
majority of people selected to move into our properties are chosen
by “nominating agencies”. Nominating agencies are often
support agencies who are assisting their clients to work through
their support needs additional to addressing their
homelessness. These support needs may be due to mental or
physical illness, trauma from violence, family breakdown or
rehabilitation from substance abuse.
What we aim to do
Successful Tenancies
Tenancy Services’ essential aim is to achieve a successful
tenancy. Successful tenancies are in essence where the Tenant, NEHS
and the nominating service feel as if the experience has been
positive and the Tenant leaves having found secure and stable
accommodation.
There are a number of elements that assist in attaining a
successful tenancy. These include: ethical practice, Tenant
responsibility, working relationships, timely property preparation,
a constructive sign up, good management during the tenancy and a
positive conclusion to the accommodation. This requires
Transitional Housing to be much more than the moving in and out of
the property in a timely manner into long-term housing.
An Ethical Landlord
Workers are to model good Landlord behaviour by adhering to the
Residential Tenancies Act 1997 (RTA 1997), treating Tenants with
respect and dignity, aiming
to resolve issues constructively and upholding basic moral
standards, professional behaviour and citizen
rights.
Tenant Responsibility
The Tenant can and does have the control of what direction the
tenancy takes. It is about the Tenant:
- Learning and feeling empowered
- Utilising the opportunity to end their transience or
insecurity.
- Settling and committing their lives in the direction they so
choose.
- Respecting the property and the neighbourhood in which they
reside.
- Receiving the necessary supports and resources available in the
community.
- Locating and moving into long-term, stable housing.
Working Relationships
Developing and maintaining strong working relationships is a key
to a positive tenancy. Communication and negotiation, along with
accepting diversity and being flexible and respectful underline
core aspects in a relationship to create an environment of co
ownership and cooperation with the Tenancy Worker, Support Worker
and the
Tenant
Timely Property Preparation
An individual or families who are homeless or potentially
homeless need their new home to be ready as soon as possible to
avoid undue stress and anxiety. Properties that sit vacant
and idle for extended periods demonstrate a poor use of a highly
valuable resource. The property must have all major repairs
and maintenance attended to prior to the Tenanting of a
property. Nominating Agencies are to respect the timelines
that are in place when preparing a property. That is,
allowing for an inspection, 5 days for cleaning (24 hours for
crisis properties) and up to 14 days on maintenance. Major
upgrades will take an extended time based on the works
required.
A Positive Sign Up
It is here that all parties initially meet to sign an agreement
and formulate an arrangement whereby the person/family reside in a
NEHS managed property. Therefore it is imperative that a
clear understanding is made of the RTA 1997 and establishing the
commitment to a tenancy.
Communicating all aspects of the program and how we conduct
ourselves sends a clear message and sets a benchmark from the start
of the working relationship and this enables a strong ‘launching
point’ and framework to work together in the same direction.
Maintaining the Link and Engaging in Support During the
Tenancy
All work undertaken by the Support and Tenancy Worker must aim
to resolve any presenting issues to prevent a breakdown of the
tenancy. There are a number of problems that may arise during
tenancy that do lead to difficulties and in some instances
eviction. These usually are related to rental arrears, not working
towards or accepting long-term housing and anti social behaviour.
Separate policies and procedures explain the approach adopted by
NEHS to resolve these matters.
There is a range of ways to work through problems with Tenants
and a variety of methods can be adopted to achieve a positive
outcome. This may include a flexible approach using various
communication methods, such as: telephone, meetings, house
inspections and placing concerns in writing. In some
instances managing the problem through the nominating service may
be feasible where individuals have difficulties working with people
other than the Nominating Service. The Tenancy Worker must
conduct themselves in a non-judgmental fashion, being aware to not
‘match the Tenant’s emotions’ which will only work to denigrate any
opportunity to resolve the problem.
Ending the Tenancy
It is the Tenant that has the greatest bearing on ensuring a
property can be tenanted in a timely manner by cleaning the
property and leaving it maintenance free i.e. reporting any
maintenance required throughout the tenancy. Nominating
services can greatly assist this by supporting the client through
the process of vacating. Returning the keys ensures that NEHS
does not need to delay the sign up with the requirement to attend
VCAT to obtain an abandonment order.
Unsuccessful Tenancies
Explaining what an unsuccessful tenancy is helps to clarify what
the Tenancy Team, the Nominating Service and the Tenant need to
avoid. As much as possible, NEHS must work to avoid evicting
Tenants. The service is not in the business of accommodating
people who were homeless just to make them homeless again.
While evictions will take place from time to time, a range of steps
must be taken to avoid VCAT action. In essence this means
adhering to the relevant processes, good communication,
negotiation, early intervention and an emphasis on resolving the
underlying issues.
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