Housing Pathways

Objectives

To implement fair and transparent tenant selection and tenancy management processes
To ensure that tenants have a clear understanding of their rights and responsibilities
to help all tenants to achieve long-term sustainable tenancies
to be responsive to the changing needs of tenants
to ensure the financial resources of the organization are managed effectively

Section Title

Eligibility Criteria

There is a common process for assessing eligibility for social housing across NSW called Housing Pathways.

Housing Pathways has been developed with Housing NSW, 28 Community Housing Providers and the Aboriginal Housing Office to establish one application system and a single state-wide waiting list.

For information about the cross-sector, state-wide eligibility policy visit: www.housingpathways.nsw.gov.au/Am+I+Eligible/Social+Housing.

Application Forms

Application forms can be picked up from any participating social housing provider, or can be found on the Housing Pathways’ website:

www.housingpathways.nsw.gov.au/Additional+Information/Forms.htm

Conflict of Interest

Conflict of interest may arise in situations where a staff member or someone with a personal relationship with a staff member applies for social housing. In these cases everything must be done to reduce the conflict of interest:

Management must be informed, and actions and decisions recorded on Conflict of Interest register.
Staff member involved must not be involved in assessment or allocation process.

Offers of Housing

All offers of housing to applicants will be made in accordance with the state-wide Housing Pathways offers policy, which can be found at:

www.housingpathways.nsw.gov.au/

A refusal of two reasonable offers will result in the client being removed from the Housing Register, unless either offer is deemed to be “unreasonable”.

Withdrawal of offers

If for any reason an offer of housing is withdrawn, the applicant will be notified in writing as soon as possible. A full explanation as to the reasons a withdrawal has been made will be available.

Accepting an offer/filling a vacancy

New tenants who have been offered a property will be given a maximum of 14 days to sign the lease on their new property. A Holding fee of $20.00 per week will be required from 3 days after the offer has been accepted.

Confidentiality

All information regarding applicants collected during the assessment process, will be confidential and will not be discussed externally except with the specific consent of the applicant (applicants will generally have signed specific consents).

Appeals and Complaints

If the client disagrees with the decision that Metro Community Housing has made regarding an application for housing, they should first speak Metro Community Housing about the reasons the decision was made.

If the client is still unsatisfied, they should request a formal review of the decision by the Manager. The Manager will explain the reasons for making the decision in writing.

If the client is still unsatisfied with the outcome of the formal review, they can lodge an appeal with the Housing Appeals Committee. HAC is an independent agency that reviews decisions made by Community Housing organisations and Housing NSW. For information call 1800 629 794 or visit www.hac.nsw.gov.au. capable of independent living or have supports in place to live independently, be over 18 (we will consider applications from tenants turning 18 in next 6 months if they have appropriate support arrangements in place).