Thursday, 6 November 2014

$3.7m in damage to public housing (ACT) - ABC News

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-11-03/37-million-in-damage-to-public-housing-last-financial-year-act/5862076

(Posted on Monday, 3rd November)

"Public housing properties in the ACT received nearly $73,000 worth of damage each week last financial year, according to an ACT Government department."

"If they're a current tenant we ask them to enter into a repayment agreement with us and if they've left our housing then we have to go to the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal and get an order like every other landlord."

I found this article quite interesting as it left me asking several questions:
  • Is it possible to decide whether the damage was deliberate or not? And would this outcome affect the expected payment from the tenant? (assuming not)
  • How do these statistics compare to private rental properties?
  • Does the demographics of those living in these houses affect the rate of damage per house? (children, pets, use of substances?)
The Northbourne Flats public housing complex.

1 comment:

  1. Good questions Kaeley. There could well be a link between the demographics of the tenants and the amount of damage done to the properties. That really is a lot of money. I wonder if ACT Housing has an effective property repair tendering process to keep costs down?

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