tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31659118028643836422024-03-06T00:05:36.384+11:00Our House SwapAlthough this blog is a few years old now, many of the discussions and policies are still applicable.
The original OurHouseSwap website where tenants could register their desire to swap has now been closed down.Our House Swaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02481766256616030582noreply@blogger.comBlogger35125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3165911802864383642.post-8858966290849735552018-11-20T17:24:00.002+11:002018-11-20T17:24:35.665+11:00CALL TO ACTION - Shoalhaven tenants being shunted into Community housingOne delightful way Public Housing implements to solve their problems is to buck-pass them to someone else.
This transfer of stock from Public Housing to Community Housing has been ramped up recently with dire consequences for tenants and in many cases, complete loss of housing security.
The latest community to fall under the hammer has been in the Shoalhaven where their tenancies have been OHS Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01042139018812495049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3165911802864383642.post-44347231190335342032018-09-01T14:47:00.000+10:002018-09-01T14:56:37.471+10:00VendettasMuch has been written about the incompetence of Housing staff - mostly anecdotal and credible. It is rare that there is solid evidence and rarer still that Housing is held to account.
This article from Tenants NSW crossed my desk recently and, on the surface, it looks like just another drawn-out maintenance issue with buck-passing and inept handling, but when you dig a little deeper you can see OHS Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01042139018812495049noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3165911802864383642.post-18854449225376317892016-07-18T12:47:00.001+10:002016-07-18T12:47:11.389+10:00What is reasonable?One of the terms used often in legal language is "reasonable".
What would a reasonable person think.
How much is reasonable force.
How does a reasonable person behave.
But what happens when you are faced with a person who does not apply "reason" to a situation. Expectations are not met and frustration is incurred. In most cases, ie. relationships, you can have a big blow-up, argue it out and OHS Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01042139018812495049noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3165911802864383642.post-61029334028360338232016-02-27T14:49:00.000+11:002016-07-04T12:47:52.300+10:00Code of Ethical Conduct
All NSW public servants, and in particular those who work directly with the public like Housing or DoCS workers, are governed by a beautifully written document titled Code of Ethical Conduct.
Download a copy here
It is 29 pages long the core principles are Integrity, Trust, Service and Accountability.
[Okay, stop laughing now]
You can just tell that it took a back room team a year to writeOHS Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01042139018812495049noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3165911802864383642.post-82583559524929699052016-02-16T14:53:00.000+11:002016-07-04T12:47:29.597+10:00Rotten eggs float
Have you ever sat across from a Housing staff member in an interview or at
the counter and wondered... how the hell does this person manage to get away
with being so incompetent?
Like most bureaucrats, the more inept the person – the higher they rise
to the top.
It happens like this: the supervisor or team leader is desperate to get rid
of the incompetent staff member so they OHS Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01042139018812495049noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3165911802864383642.post-61274806630508757462015-11-25T11:53:00.001+11:002015-11-25T11:53:44.261+11:00Swapping Community Housing to HNSWWhen Housing NSW handed over large swathes of its stock to various Community Housing operators - one of the unforeseen disadvantages was the upset caused when trying to do a Mutual Exchange.
Anecdotal reports say that some have been successful, whilst others have been blocked. It seems that it depends on the mood of the officials involved and that there is no hard and fast policy to follow.
TheOHS Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01042139018812495049noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3165911802864383642.post-814859874639565662015-06-29T09:20:00.000+10:002015-09-30T14:57:47.558+10:00Tenant wins against HOUSINGWith all the publicity lately about Queensland Housing failing to address anti-social behaviour problems, I have been flooded with emails asking where the CTTT story is.
It's in the archives - and Blogger doesn't make it easy to navigate.
So here are the relevant articles:
Where it all began - August 2009
The WIN
The damage Ferals do to our community
Making Housing accountable
Happy reading.Our House Swaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02481766256616030582noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3165911802864383642.post-47851099702539390232015-03-21T12:42:00.000+11:002015-09-30T15:04:45.631+10:00Worthy - not just NeedyAs the Ferals increasing take over public housing and as the public servants stand by and watch the communities spiral into ghettos, we ask what can be done to properly MANAGE public housing and their occupants.
I can hear the bleeding hearts now - "but the Ferals will be homeless if we evict them". Well so be it. Perhaps that is exactly what is needed - a stint of homelessness - to make them Our House Swaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02481766256616030582noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3165911802864383642.post-48363258180665393322013-08-01T17:13:00.000+10:002015-09-30T14:50:50.498+10:00Termites in HousingI have just finished reading the 42 page "summary" of the Auditor General's report on HNSW.
There was nothing surprising in it.
Too few houses plus too many people... no brainer that one!
Stock depletion and maintenance deficit... yep, situation normal.
Under-occupancy got quite a run - with very few practical solutions.
The equation goes like this: Lack of houses = problems with allocation (OHS Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01042139018812495049noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3165911802864383642.post-21253364337898149122013-02-11T13:29:00.002+11:002015-09-30T14:53:08.683+10:00AMNESTY FOR WHOM?
AMNESTY
FOR WHOM?
Monday, February 11th,
2013
By Ross Smith, for
the
Rimfire Review
The announcement of a granting
of amnesty to a small number of public housing tenants announced on Sunday 20th
January 2013 marks a misguided day in the history of the administration of
public housing in NSW.
This ‘initiative’ is a copy of
the move made by the incoming Queensland government OHS Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01042139018812495049noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3165911802864383642.post-32148999600043830392012-12-17T19:56:00.000+11:002015-09-30T14:53:21.777+10:00MERRY CHRISTMAS SCUMBAGBy Garry Mallard, for the
Rimfire Review
During the National Tenant Support Network’s 17 years of operation, I
have successfully resisted the urge to use its reach to express
personal outrage. That is about to change….oh, how it is about to
change!
Upon returning from a brief trip to Sydney last Friday, I found in my
letterbox, the Housing NSW Christmas greeting for 2012, attached for
your OHS Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01042139018812495049noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3165911802864383642.post-5163596628245992012-12-17T19:55:00.001+11:002015-09-30T14:53:36.621+10:00THE FESTIVE SEASON MESSAGE FROM HOUSING NSWBy Ross Smith, for the
Rimfire Review
The regular reminder that Christmas is imminent for NSW’s Public
Housing tenants has arrived in their letterboxes as per ordained
schedule, courtesy of their landlord. It takes the now standard form of
dire threats of eviction if the rent is not paid on time and solicits
payments in advance of the legislated timeframe.
This year Housing NSW has added a OHS Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01042139018812495049noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3165911802864383642.post-83893946344827055342012-08-10T02:20:00.001+10:002012-08-10T02:20:30.320+10:00United we standThere are many many comments on this blog about "banding together" and fighting "class actions".
Great ideas but as we all know, the time it takes to implement such processes and run them consistently with dedication, is often a burden upon one or two people.
To help spread the load and to address different concerns in the different states, three groups have set up on Facebook:
Friends of OHS Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01042139018812495049noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3165911802864383642.post-37573123707030606102012-03-21T09:24:00.003+11:002015-09-30T14:54:28.686+10:00Queensland - Call to ArmsFurther to our story Something smelly in Queensland the case is going to court
From Helen Wedlake:
In a test case to reverse a common practice of putting the tenant at fault in disputes concerning the condition of housing, there is a Court Hearing on 29th March, 2012, in Court of Appeal, Supreme Court George Street Brisbane pertaining to the Matter of Underwood v Dept. of Communities.OHS Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01042139018812495049noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3165911802864383642.post-32188532694603497852012-03-17T15:43:00.001+11:002015-09-30T14:54:41.061+10:00Case Study: Something smelly in Queensland
This is an Open Letter sent to OHS and reprinted with permission.
I am ... taking this opportunity to share with you Helen Underwood's circumstances and Helen's
sustained fight for answers to her placements in housing that was unfit or barely fit for habitation, conditions by no means an exception in the system.
<snip> As stakeholders in tenancies and housing, Helen believes that OHS Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01042139018812495049noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3165911802864383642.post-36135823860193544772012-03-09T16:24:00.000+11:002015-09-30T14:54:55.703+10:00Evictions increase under 3-strikes
Further to our story last year about the WA policy of evictions...
This story appeared in the The West online newspaper
The Department of Housing has almost doubled the number of evictions of public housing tenants under its three-strikes policy in the past 13 months.
An explosion at a clandestine drug laboratory in a suburban home in March prompted Housing Minister Troy Buswell toOHS Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01042139018812495049noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3165911802864383642.post-44743267814778820272011-09-03T18:14:00.000+10:002015-09-30T14:56:34.759+10:00Just a little dash of common sense will fix it...A few facts...
Only a very small percentage of Public Housing dwellings are 1 bedroom units.
Consequently, there is a HUGE percentage of 2 bedroom dwellings being occupied by single people.
Fact 2: It is NOT EASY to find a swap. Even with the super efficient Our House Swap website it can still be hard to find something that suits your needs.
Fact 3: It is virtually IMPOSSIBLE to get a transferOHS Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01042139018812495049noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3165911802864383642.post-77072830743792649772011-08-18T16:11:00.003+10:002015-09-30T14:56:51.700+10:00HNSW breaches tenant's privacyHow broken is the official Housing NSW Mutual Exchange system?
It's hard to tell because it's virtually impossible to get a straight answer from HNSW.
Apart from having to wait nearly two years to get a response, the official Mutual Exchange system requires the tenant to forgo all privacy in order to participate in the program.
Draconian!!
From the Mutual Exchange Form DH3003:
If you OHS Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01042139018812495049noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3165911802864383642.post-45818443966292280002011-06-22T15:36:00.000+10:002015-09-30T14:58:09.024+10:00Revealing preliminary results from tenant surveyMORE than 72 per cent of public tenants currently affected by anti- social behaviour have not had their problem resolved or addressed appropriately by State housing departments, according to the OHSBlog survey.
A massive 65 per cent found Housing staff to be "unhelpful and disinterested", and most had been putting up with noisy neighbours for more than two years.
Anti-social behaviour, Our House Swaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02481766256616030582noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3165911802864383642.post-47397222172113349042011-05-19T16:27:00.000+10:002015-09-30T14:58:57.725+10:00Indigenous housing group backs eviction lawsFrom ABC
The Goldfields Indigenous Housing Organisation has welcomed new legislation proposed by the Western Australian Government to address unsuitable behaviour in public housing.
The legislation would allow the Department of Housing to call on the magistrates court to evict disruptive tenants.
Goldfields Indigenous Housing Organisation CEO Julia Shadlow-Bath says the new laws will give Our House Swaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02481766256616030582noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3165911802864383642.post-44047974301934386292011-05-18T16:51:00.000+10:002015-09-30T14:59:26.132+10:00Evictions of HomesWest tenants risesFrom ABC News
The Department for Housing has evicted more than 150 people in the past six months as part of a crackdown on tenant eligibility.
In 2009, the State Government announced a review of the eligibility criteria for state housing tenants, to ensure they did not exceed income cut offs.
A total of 153 people have been forced to leave since November last year,
The Housing Minister TroyOur House Swaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02481766256616030582noreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3165911802864383642.post-29081868469628562292011-05-11T12:55:00.001+10:002015-09-30T14:59:39.571+10:00Another landmark ruling to help control the FeralsFrom Domain.com.au
Come in and feel the noise: landlords to pay for rowdy tenants
Photocopies stickytaped to city lamp posts offering dirt-cheap, shared-room rentals in luxury apartments could soon be a thing of the past after a landmark court ruling.
Previously, landlords who crammed partying backpackers and students into houses and apartments could ignore complaints about noise, passing themOur House Swaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02481766256616030582noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3165911802864383642.post-56539004501780003402011-04-05T12:10:00.001+10:002015-09-30T14:59:58.106+10:00WA: Unruly tenants to face tougher rulesABC News - Tuesday, 05 April, 2011
The state government is to toughen up its three strikes public housing policy.
Under the policy introduced in 2009, Homeswest tenants could be evicted if they were involved in criminal or disruptive behaviour on three occasions.
The Housing Minister Troy Buswell says under the new rules, there will be three categories of anti-social behaviour.
He has told Our House Swaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02481766256616030582noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3165911802864383642.post-82116586404363419002011-03-17T12:56:00.002+11:002015-09-30T15:05:31.774+10:00How to make Housing accountable - the BasicsI have had many requests from other victims of anti-social neighbours to produce a "how to" guide... so here it is:
How to put Housing on notice that you are not going to take this anymore!
Firstly - print out this statement in large letters and stick it on your fridge; say it to yourself every morning and repeat it to every Housing staff member you encounter:
I have a RIGHT to quiet enjoymentOur House Swaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02481766256616030582noreply@blogger.com30tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3165911802864383642.post-84639166197189509902011-03-09T19:00:00.004+11:002015-09-30T15:08:06.531+10:00Tenant SUES Housing NSW - and WINS!!!Last August we reported on a tenant who was taking HNSW to the CTTT for their failure to deal appropriately with her anti-social neighbour.
We are pleased to announce that SHE WON !!!
It took 7 months to go through 3 court hearings - the only defence offered by Housing was a handful of fabricated incident reports with incorrect dates and fictitious events. With over 100 pages of evidence Our House Swaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02481766256616030582noreply@blogger.com56