Figure 3. Declined to assert tenancy rights. Source: TUNSW (2014). The proper objective of policy should be to make private rental sector more affordable and secure, not to change the conditions of social housing to make it less ‘preferable’. Indeed, in recent years conditions in public housing in New South Wales have been deliberately changed to make it less preferable, particularly to tenants on moderate incomes. The results are truly perverse: these changes have increased work disincentives, reduced exits from public housing, and reduced opportunities to house applicants from the waiting list. Potential outcome #2 work disincentives – We strongly support initiatives to address work disincentives in social housing. We agree that income-related rents, which have been an increasingly prominent feature of social housing policy since at least the 1980s, do have a work disincentive effect, as described in the Interim Report. However, we are more concerned about the additional work disincentives created by the Reshaping Public Housing (RPH) reforms of 2005. We consider these to be more damaging to rewards from work, to opportunities for – tenants’ applicants’ housing, and to the financial sustainability of public housing. The first aspect of the RPH reforms is Housing policy of higher rent rates for tenants NSW’s on so-called The policy revised Housing system of ‘moderate incomes’. NSW’s rents, which provides rebates to eligible tenants so that the rent the tenant pays is about 25 per cent of the the revised system, tenants whose tenant’s household income. Under household income is above the income on a sliding scale, 25-30 per ‘moderate threshold’ pay, cent of their household income. Tenants whose household income is above a second threshold per cent at the top of the sliding scale) pay 30 per cent. (the ’30 threshold’, Figure 4. Thresholds for moderate income rent rates, from 18 March 2013. Household Moderate 30 per cent Ineligible for income threshold rental rebate threshold First adult $710 pw $888 pw $1 325 pw Additional + $190 pw + $238 pw + $350 pw adult First child + $140 pw + $175 pw + $265 pw Additional + $95 pw + $119 pw + $175 pw child
Figure 3. Declined to assert tenancy rights. Source: TUNSW (2014). The proper objective of policy should be to make private rental sector more affordable and secure, not to change the conditions of social housing to make it less ‘preferable’. Indeed, in recent years conditions in public housing in New South Wales have been deliberately changed to make it less preferable, particularly to tenants on moderate incomes. The results are truly perverse: these changes have increased work disincentives, reduced exits from public housing, and reduced opportunities to house applicants from the waiting list. Potential outcome #2 – work disincentives We strongly support initiatives to address work disincentives in social housing. We agree that income-related rents, which have been an increasingly prominent feature of social housing policy since at least the 1980s, do have a work disincentive effect, as described in the Interim Report. However, we are more concerned about the additional work disincentives created by the Reshaping Public Housing (RPH) reforms of 2005. We consider these to be more damaging – to tenants’ rewards from work, to applicants’ opportunities for housing, and to the financial sustainability of public housing. The first aspect of the RPH reforms is Housing NSW’s policy of higher rent rates for tenants on so-called ‘moderate incomes’. The policy revised Housing NSW’s system of rents, which provides rebates to eligible tenants so that the rent the tenant pays is about 25 per cent of the tenant’s household income. Under the revised system, tenants whose household income is above the ‘moderate income threshold’ pay, on a sliding scale, 25-30 per cent of their household income. Tenants whose household income is above a second threshold (the ’30 per cent threshold’, at the top of the sliding scale) pay 30 per cent. Figure 4. Thresholds for moderate income rent rates, from 18 March 2013. Household Moderate income threshold 30 per cent threshold Ineligible for rental rebate First adult $710 pw $888 pw $1 325 pw Additional adult + $190 pw + $238 pw + $350 pw First child + $140 pw + $175 pw + $265 pw Additional child + $95 pw + $119 pw + $175 pw
208_-_tenants_union_of_new_south_wales.docx