'BUYER BEWARE' OR 'DUTY OF CARE' ?

ANECDOTE

Friends of Public Housing Vic were told the following story.

A young mother was living in public housing with a disabled husband and a small child. Since her housing no longer met her family's needs, she applied to transfer to another more suitable public housing property.

She approached her Public Housing Officer, who suggested that she consider moving into  'Community Housing'.

The Housing Officer gave her the address of a Community Housing Organisation and told her that Community Housing is 'much the same as public housing' - the only difference is that she will pay 30% of her income instead of the 25% as is the case in Public Housing.

Her Housing Officer really talked up Community Housing, saying that if she was offered a place, she should 'grab it with both hands' -  it would be too good an opportunity to pass up.

She attended an interview with a staff member of a Community Housing Organisation. She asked about the rent and was told that the rent would be calculated at 30% of the family's income.

( This is the percentage of household income that her family would pay towards the rent. The actual rents can be up to 80% of market rents or even more, but is often set at 75% of market rents which allows Community Housing Organisations to claim charitable status and tax breaks. For the rents to be 'affordable' the family would then need to apply for Commonwealth Rent Assistance (CRA)  and this amount would go directly to the Community Housing landlord. No CRA whatsoever is required in Public Housing. It is important to always keep in mind just how much the taxpayer is subsidising 'Community /Social /Affordable Housing' !!  

 

- Or how precarious the whole thing is!  Imagine if CRA is one day slashed? Community Housing has stated that access to CRA is 'crucial' for their businesses to be financially sustainable. Mick de Brenni -Housing Minister for Queensland addressed the issue of unacceptable risk when enumerating his reasons for scrapping plans to privatise Public Housing in Queensland. )

Back to our anecdote - The young mother (and carer) asked if the rent could go up as a Community Housing tenant. She was told that 'well, the private sector always has the right to raise the rent.' She then said, 'So you cannot guarantee that the rent will always remain at 30% of income'. The Housing provider agreed that they could not guarantee it.

Later she learned that if she signed a lease with Community Housing she would lose her place on the public housing list (including transfer lists). The option of public housing for her family would be closed.

She talked it over with her husband, and they decided that they could not afford to lose the protections which only public housing provides. Instead of moving into Community Housing they continued to apply for a transfer within the public housing system.

Her story has a happy ending. Her family has been transferred to a more suitable public housing property and they are happy living there.

Below are other very important differences between Public and 'Community Housing' which are not made clear in documents or in the inadequate Fact-Sheets available. The differences between the two housing models are glossed over or simply not mentioned.

1. Public tenants ( and other prospective tenants ) should not assume that if their household income falls, their rents will be readjusted and reduced to 30% in Community Housing. ( At the end of the day, they are businesses ) This essential protection of flexible rents linked to household income which Public Housing provides- can be  absent in Community Housing, or replaced with a 'hardship provision'- which means that reduced rents are put in place for a very limited amount of time. In the present climate where welfare entitlements are under attack, the consistent protection of flexible rents that Public Housing provides, is what literally keeps people off the streets.Tenants who are told that Community (social ) Housing is 'much the same' or 'similar' to Public Housing might not think to question this.

2. Tenants in Community Housing can be put on limited contracts - as little as 3, 6 or 12 months.

3. In Community Housing, additional service fees can be charged for maintenance. Conditions for utilities such as water, can differ from what is in place in public housing. All these changes represent hidden costs which all add up.

4. A Community Housing tenant might need to contribute financially for any modifications to her  unit needed due to a disability. Otherwise if she cannot afford to do so, she might have to either forgo these necessary modifications, or move out.

5. When the contract expires, and tenants apply for a new lease, they might well face unanticipated changes.

6. There can be a loss of access to car-parking which can have a huge impact on tenants' lives.

7. 'No cause' evictions apply in Community / Social / Affordable housing. 

We are hearing many anecdotes such as the story of the family above, which point to a disturbing and systemic issue.

Public tenants are being told partial and misleading information. They are being encouraged to relinquish their rights as Public Housing tenants, and to transfer to Community Housing without being able to access the facts they need to make an 'informed decision' about something as important as housing for themselves and their families.

Some tenants have reported that they believe they were 'tricked' and 'deceived' about aspects of their new leases that they were not told of beforehand.

These are often people with disabilities or they can be elderly pensioners. ( statistically these are the two largest groups that make up Public Housing communities )

Public Housing communities are also very multicultural, so English can be a second language. For public tenants whose first language is English, literacy issues are not uncommon either. All these factors put tenants at a very real disadvantage where careful reading and understanding of the terms of a new lease are so very important.

On top of this, these people can be experiencing desperate circumstances, which means they are more likely to sign a lease with Community /Social Housing without careful consideration of the ramifications. They can lack the resources they need to understand and defend their rights. They often do not have the money to afford professional help or are afraid to speak out.

Finally- sad to say- public tenants can be easy targets when it comes to being manipulated.

Many public tenants are very trusting. They believe whatever they are told by their Housing Officers, governments, political representatives, and the organisations funded to represent them- who are all working with a common agenda.

 Public tenants are being told that possible future transferring of their homes and tenancies is a 'very good thing' - without being informed of the rights and protections they stand to lose ...

GREENS OPPOSE TRANSFER OF PUBLIC HOUSING TO COMMUNITY ( SOCIAL ) HOUSING

EXCELLENT SPEECH BY ELLEN SANDELL - 
VIC STATE GREENS -
SPOKESPERSON FOR HOUSING.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFAbPohwazM

"I rise to speak on the urgent need to increase public housing stock and to ensure it remains owned and managed by the Government"

"We've heard some worrying reports that the Andrews Labor government may be intending to privatise a significant proportion of Public Housing in Victoria."

"I'm worried that they may want to transfer a large amount of public housing to private 'community' or 'affordable housing' groups. While many community housing providers do great work, they should be supported in addition to public housing not instead of it."

"While we need to increase all forms of affordable housing, we absolutely must not reduce our public housing stock"

"The government should not wash its hands of public housing. Too many people rely on it. It needs to remain an essential part of what the government does."
                                                  ---------

Friends of Public Housing Victoria -FOPHV- will be taking this message on to our Public Housing estates - getting to speak to as many of our fellow public tenants as possible - explaining to them their rights - and letting them know of The Victorian Greens position on Public Housing.

LABOR  - HANDS OFF PUBLIC HOUSING !! 

Next Rally- organised by PIBCI
                    Endorsed by FOPHV and HPU
                    this Thursday 10th November
                    11.30 -1.30
                    Parliament House steps
                    Spring St- Melbourne 

                            
More rallies and a Barbeque / Celebration planned on a major Public Housing Estate
with refugee public tenants speaking on the importance of Public Housing. Details to follow. 









Public Interests Before Corporate Interests- PIBCI

   







Friends of Public Housing Victoria

Homeless Persons Union

YOU CAN'T EVICT SOMEONE FOR BARRACKING FOR COLLINGWOOD!

Community Housing is defined by their peak body- Community Housing Federation of Victoria -CHFV- as providing secure, long-term housing which offers a 'more responsive management' than public housing. This is a argument they put forward, when wanting to take over public housing.

There are now voices challenging these claims and the glossy PR of Community /Social Housing - though rarely are these voices coming from those working within the housing industry, which is to be expected. We have found the media unwilling to ask the hard questions of Community Housing Organisations.

In fact Community ( social ) Housing now comprises of at least 39 separate businesses - including nine major property developers. Obviously they will differ in their motivations and operations.

However at the end of the day they are all businesses and outsourcing management and transferring titles is privatisation - ( it is misleading to suggest otherwise )

Below is a link to an article published by CHFV in a newsletter. It discusses management practices employed by some Community Housing Organisations that are extremely dubious - and highlights that when housing is managed by Community Housing Organisations rather than Public Housing, there is a serious loss of security and rights.

It discusses the 'no-cause' eviction clause under Section 263 and 288 of the Residential Tenancies Act whereby tenants can be evicted without the landlord having to specify a reason.

Public Housing tenants are protected from arbitrary evictions like this. 

The 'no-cause' or 'no-grounds' eviction procedure requires a Notice to Quit which gives the tenant 120 days to leave. If the tenant has not left after that time, then the next step is for the landlord to obtain an Order of Possession of the premises.

Tenant advocates and some welfare groups are very critical of this piece of legislation. Shelter, a peak-body for tenants on low incomes, says that "without grounds' evictions underline and emphasise the power differential and result in tenants trading off their rights against the fear of eviction'
'A Better Lease on Life-2010 Shelter'

Apart from the 120 Day Notice to Quit, another way to evict a tenant without the need to supply a reason, which is discussed in the article, is when there is a Fixed Term Tenancy.

Incidentally Fixed Term tenancies are the only way a tenant can be evicted 'without grounds' in Tasmania. It is the only state in Australia where 120 Day 'no cause' Eviction Notices have been strictly curtailed.

The article, 'A Question on Notice' ( link below ) written by an industry advisor to Community Housing managers on VCAT issues, addresses this.

It states that one 'advantage' of putting tenants on fixed-term tenancies ( as low as 6, 4 and 3 months ) is that it enables the landlord to issue Notices to Quit which coincide with the end of the fixed term.

Another tactic for landlords wanting to evict a tenant is to simply raise the rents to market rates!

The article goes on to say that Community( aka social ) Housing landlords should not arbitrarily 'move on' people with a 'difficult personality' but that 120 day no-cause eviction notices should only be used when there is a 'genuine problem'. Indeed - how disturbing and depressing that these practices occur.

We have heard reports by Community Housing tenants, very critical of certain practices by some Community Housing Organisations, and we urge Minister Foley to start listening to the reality of people's experiences. He has a Duty of Care to do so.

Finally, the article discusses the practice of 'rolling eviction notices.' As if 'no-cause' evictions are not unfair enough as it is, some Community Housing Providers are going one step further and issuing rolling- ie continuous-eviction notices to every resident every 120 days !?

Imagine the implications of that...  Eviction notices can be used as a form of social control and intimidation. Residents in boarding houses, who have done nothing to deserve it, are constantly having the threat of eviction- and subsequent homelessness- hanging over their heads.
 
The author, who believes it is best that these notices be avoided, advises that the practice of rolling eviction notices "would likely be shot down in flames in the Supreme Court under the Victorian Charter of Human Rights."

He says that when considering 120 day Notices to Quit, there should always be a valid reason for it and quips, "You are not just evicting them because they are a Collingwood supporter. At least I hope this vile practice has stopped"

In spite of its faults as a landlord, the Victorian state government has also had a history of being a fair and compassionate landlord. The Department of Human Services employed staff who provided specialised support for people whose tenancies were at risk - so they could remain safely housed rather than be evicted into homelessness.

Unethical practices like 'rolling eviction notices' were never part of the way the government operated.

Why has no-one blown the whistle on this Human Rights abusive practice before now?
This is a shocking way to treat vulnerable people.

http://www.chfv.org.au/uploads/1808-11_CHFV-newsletter-NOV13_FA-LR.pdf

QUOTE BY THE HOMELESS PERSONS UNION

"The occupation of residential properties in Bendigo St Collingwood, compulsorily acquired from the defunct East-West link, is a direct action undertaken to raise awareness of, and draw attention to the mismanagement, corporatisation and destruction of publicly owned assets during a housing and humanitarian crisis.

The occupation began on the 28th of March 2016, and one of its primary demands has been for Minister Foley to personally meet with those directly impacted by the state government's failure to manage housing resources to avoid the unnecessary suffering of a homeless experience.

In the seven months since the beginning of the Direct Action, the Minister has refused any and all invitations extended by the Homeless Persons Union and allied activists to enter into a dialogue"

OUR GRIEVANCES

The Story So Far.

In March 2014, the Victorian Housing Minister for the Coalition, Wendy Lovell, released a Housing Policy which unveiled a plan to transfer 12,000 public housing properties to Community Housing Organisations. Richard Wynne, ALP opposition Housing Minister at the time, called the move an ‘embarrassing hoax’ and highlighted the fact that no new housing would be made available. It only would result in a change in management / ownership.

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/poor-left-stranded-in-public-housing-revamp-20140330-35run.html 

We hoped that Labor, when it won government in 2014, would not continue to perpetrate this hoax on the Victorian people, and we looked forward to working with the government to improve the public housing system. In fact public housing is in better shape than you might imagine - there has been a lot of beat-ups and propaganda surrounding public housing by those with a vested interest in seeing its demise.

However- since it was a Federal Rudd Labor government that continued with proposals for Australian States to hand over public housing to housing associations - and since the Victorian ALP had already covertly given away thousands of properties, we were naturally cautious. COAG 2009

So, following the 2014 election, we waited for an announcement by Labor, publicly scrapping the Liberal’s proposal to transfer 12,000 public housing properties - but nothing..

In October 2015 two things happened.

Community Housing Federation Victoria ( peak body for Community/ Affordable Housing ) put forward a Budget Submission calling for the titles of 12,000 public housing properties to be transferred to them.
http://www.chfv.org.au/database-files/view-file/?id=6178

And Labor formally announced its intention to transfer management of Public Housing with the view to title transfer in the future. In this article Martin Foley did not disclose how many properties would be transferred. Our opinion, shared by the Queensland Housing Minister, is that management and title transfer is of course privatisation, regardless of denials to the contrary. 

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/sweeping-changes-presented-on-public-housing-in-victoria-20151018-gkbxdp.html

As usual, there was no further follow-up investigations by any newspaper, regarding such an important announcement. ( If you blinked, you would have missed it )

OUR ATTEMPTS TO CONTACT THE MINISTER GO UNHEEDED.

In the beginning of January 2015, following the Victorian election, Friends of Public Housing wrote to congratulate Minister Foley and to arrange a meeting to discuss ALP’s position on public housing and the proposed 12,000 stock transfer. We received no response.

Later in January a respected academic ( writer, editor, education consultant and former policy manager ) spoke to a staff member at Martin Foley’s Electorate Office on behalf of Friends of Public Housing urging that a meeting be arranged. No response.

In February we emailed him again. No answer. We followed up with an email attaching a document titled ‘Homes Under Threat’ -our submission to the Senate Inquiry into Affordable Housing and asking for his feedback on it. The document is well researched and presents a strong argument against giving away any more public housing. Once again, no response from Martin Foley’s office - not even an acknowledgment.  

Meanwhile Martina Macey, a tenant with Community Housing, contacted Martin Foley’s office in December 2014 to facilitate a meeting. As a Community Housing tenant, her perspective is that Community Housing ( aka social and affordable housing ) is not the right model for mass transfers of public housing or of vulnerable tenancies. Despite repeatedly contacting his office, Martina believes that it was only by issuing a public challenge on social media, was she finally able to meet, not with Martin Foley, but a representative in October 2016 - almost two years later. She says “It is obvious that when it comes to what is best for the poorest of the poor, both the Labor and the Liberal parties don’t really give a damn.”

The Homeless Person’s Union has received the same treatment. In the seven months since the dispute in Bendigo St, Collingwood commenced, Martin Foley has refused to meet with them to discuss their concerns. The HPU has always been clear in their demand that Labor stop giving away public housing to business interests and the government build more public housing to meet the desperate need. https://hpuvic.org/2015/11/18/hpuv-media-release-markham-avenue-estate/

Instead of meeting with the people directly affected by the crisis, Minister Foley prefers to hold secret meetings with service providers to discuss the future of public housing, and attend executive lunches with business stakeholders.

Maybe by meeting with the service providers he can claim to have ‘consulted’ - but of course he has not.

Says Martina Macey, founder of a tenants’ support group - “Martin Foley is discussing the future of thousands of people who he has not even talked to! He has no idea of the effect that decisions to transfer public housing to Community Housing will have on tenants’ lives. Community Housing Organisations are all separate businesses, with different policies and procedures which can change at any time. What the Community Housing groups say and what they do, can be two different things. Bad practices can be well hidden and the Minister will not learn of these, unless he is prepared to listen to tenants.”

She goes on to say, “Nothing critical about Community Housing ever makes it on the news, just as nothing good about public housing is reported. The newspapers are biased.”

Minister Foley’s refusal to listen to the other side of the argument is unforgivable when so much is at stake. Our position is that Public Housing is an essential and irreplaceable public asset. We need to keep it in public hands. This is a governmental responsibility and a duty of care.

Not having a voice, not being heard or genuinely consulted, is a form of class prejudice - something that public tenants and homeless people have to deal with all the time. We don’t get to have a say in our own future. 

We are not told anything. Knowledge is power, and public tenants are being deliberately and systematically dis-empowered.

In the end ‘the solution’ is to just shunt us off somewhere- like the mass evictions happening in NSW. Out of sight, out of mind. So that the real business of life - which is making money of course- can go on unchecked and uninterrupted.  

 

RALLY TO STOP THE PRIVATISATION OF PUBLIC HOUSING

             RALLY TO SAVE PUBLIC HOUSING

THURSDAY 20 OCTOBER

11.30AM TO 1.30PM 
 State Parliament of Victoria

RALLY-
State Parliament Victoria

Thursday 20 October 2016,

11.30am to 1.30pm  

Save Public Housing, and build more to meet the desperate need.
  
The Victorian State Government intends to privatize much of our Public Housing, by giving it to businesses known as ‘Social/ Community/ Affordable Housing’ run by Corporations/ companies, Churches, Charities and Property Developers. 

Public Housing tenants and the Homeless Persons Union support Public Housing where rents are flexible, set at 25% of  income, and provide security of tenure. Public Housing provides housing for all people on low incomes according to need. This is not the case with the privatised alternative.

We seek to Defend and Extend Public Housing- stop privatisation -build more Public Housing!

This campaign is co-ordinated by Public Interests Before Corporate Interests - PIBCI- with participation by Friends of Public Housing Victoria.

Contact - Dr Joseph Toscano 0439 395 489

Facebook: Defend and Extend Public Housing Australia

or Joseph Toscano, or Howard Marosi

  

       

18,000 PUBLIC HOUSING TRANSFER!!

On Oct 6.2016, in NSW, a monstrous transaction occurred -whereby 18,000 public housing properties were handed over to so called 'not-for-profit' companies. At present it is a long-term lease of management but this often precedes title transfer.

Not so much as a peep of opposition by anyone in the ALP or anyone in The Greens...

Nothing new there folks. They are all going along with it ...

Politics in Australia is in a sorry state when no politician will even issue so much as a word of warning regarding these changes in housing policy - except privately - and what good does that do!?

Unfortunately service providers and organisations working within the housing industry are too beholden to the government for funding to 'risk' speaking out against these paradigm shifts either.

These privatisation policies, being unrolled across other Australian states, are of great benefit to a wealthy elite, attack public tenants, threaten the future of public housing, entrench disadvantage and increase homelessness.

As a probono accountant told Friends of Public Housing Victoria, "there is no doubt in my mind that it is only public housing that will keep people off the streets."

It was disappointing that last year the NSW Tenants Union issued a joint statement along with peak bodies, outlining the severity of the crisis, which we are all aware of, but making no mention at all of of public housing in its document or the need to defend it.

Of course in future it will be the people most in need who will suffer from the politicians' greed and chicanery. Because the privatisation of Public Housing in Australia IS a kind of scam, a confidence trick where the real 'stake-holders' -  the public tenants, homeless people, people in need of housing, and the thinking general public don't find out what is going on until its all done and dusted.

The Sydney newspaper article does not explain that Public Housing tenants require no Commonwealth Rent Assistance ( CRA ) whatsoever because the rents are outside market forces and are genuinely affordable. They go back into the public purse. In future this ongoing stream of tax-payer funded CRA, previously not required, will go directly to the Community Housing Organisations - helping to line the pockets of the future Housing Barons. And boy, do they get fabulously wealthy!

Let's take a look at the UK example, which is appropriate since we are following in their footsteps..

An extract from an article by Ross Clarke in 2015 states that in the UK "40 Housing Association executives are paid more than the Prime Minister for managing a pile of ex-council houses given to them on a plate' ...  And the promise to build new properties for those on low incomes has also failed to materialise. 

In NSW, the massive stream of ongoing Commonwealth Rent Assistance which will be going to Community Housing Organisations, is money that could and should be spent fixing and building more public housing to actually house people in need.

Following the article in the Sydney Morning Herald, there is no online opportunity available for comments. No opportunity for ordinary people like us - the schmucks who collectively own these properties which were built and set aside for those in need, to express our incredulity and outrage.

Sources.
http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/almost-20000-public-housing-units-to-be-transferred-to-notforprofits-20161005-grvn1x.html    (  Clover Moore doesn't look too happy about it ...)

Elite Property Manager EPM
http://eliteagent.com.au/nsw-property-transfer-18000-homes-welcomed-chp-sector/

https://www.tenantsunion.org.au/news-media/media-releases/152-homelessness-joint-statement

http://www.spectator.co.uk/2015/07/housing-associations-have-failed-to-build-houses/ 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/property/news/11038145/Housing-associations-bedazzled-by-lure-of-profits-report.html

https://corporatewatch.org/content/corporate-watch-newsletter-17-registered-social-landlords-new-corporations