All in the name of propping up the government's own underfunding of the public rental sector.
In October this year I posted news that rent for community housing pensioner tenants living alone might increase by up to $33 minimum a fortnight.
Because according to the NSW Federation of Housing Associations:
"The government rent policy determining how community housing rents are set has changed. Community housing rents for new tenants have risen from July 1. Most of this increase will be offset by an increase in the tenant's entitlement to Commonwealth Rent Assistance (CRA). Existing tenants' rents will increase following their next scheduled rent review.
The new rents will be calculated based on a combination of 25% of 'assessable' household income, 15% of Family Tax Benefit, and 100% of Commonwealth Rent Assistance Entitlements (as long as the new rent is not more than market rent).
The new rent will mean a net increase in housing costs (after taking the increase in CRA into account) for most current tenants. This will be phased in over a number of years.
While the Federation welcomes the general approach to ensure stronger income streams which will allow associations to provide more housing opportunities for future tenants, we have expressed strong concerns to government about the impact on current tenants."
Seems pretty straightforward doesn't it?
However there is a small problem with such a plan and it quickly became evident - greed on a large scale.
According The Greens MLC Sylvia Hale:
"A pensioner contacted me today. He had received a letter, saying
that a change in Government policy means his rent will go up by $32 a
fortnight from July 1.
On the NSW North Coast the news is worse - it is leading to a December 2008 rent increase for some single pensioners of at least $105 a fortnight.
How is this coming about?
One has to imagine that the North Coast Community Housing Company doesn't realise that it can't arbitrarily decide to artificially inflate a pensioner's current total income (in some cases by between $79-$100 per fortnight) thereby inflating rent calculations.
Just so that further down the line the company can hopefully get its avaricious hands on the maximum amount allowed for individual Commonwealth Rent Assistance entitlement.
The wheels really fall of this greed wagon when single pensioners find that Centrelink will not always pay them the maximum rent assistance - yet North Coast Community Housing is still expecting them to find an additional $23-79 per fortnight out of their own threadbare pockets to meet any shortfall between what Centrelink will pay and the company's own strange rent assistance calculations.
Of course, for many tenants, this over-the-top rent increase comes just four days after the Federal Government's one-off Centrelink payment to retirees, returned servicemen, old age and disability support pensioners, families, carers etc.
Co-incidence? I wouldn't bet on it.
It seems this Christmas will not be as flush and worry-free as Kevin Rudd had planned for those living on or under the poverty line.
At least not in New South Wales while Scrooge Rees and Co. reign.
The Office of Community Housing (OCH) accepts complaints about:
"A community housing organisation or a resourcing agency (including conduct of staff, policies, procedures and processes, the board or employees)."
I'm told that the complaints have already begun and if community housing tenants in the region realise that they are being used in a clumsy corporate attempt to 'diddle' the Commonwealth, I expect that OCH may see a higher level of complaints in the next few months.
Especially when it is borne upon tenants that the daft mental arithmetic used by their community housing 'landlord' leaves them in many cases receiving less rent assistance than has been calculated on paper to inflate their rents.
The jungle drums are beating along the Northern Rivers and I'm told that in the 2007-08 financial year North Coast Community Housing paid out over $20,000 in Board expenses and at least $12,400 in directors fees - the seven board members granting themselves about $200 for every time they turned up at monthly meetings.
It seems they are a lot more understanding of their own financial circumstances than they are of the circumstances of the company's many pensioner tenants.
Office of Community Housing rental policy here.
Brotherhood of St. Lawrence poverty line August 2007 update here:
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