Transfer of tenancy management from public housing to a community housing provider

1. Transferring from public housing to a community housing provider

Homes NSW transfers the tenancy management duties of some tenancies to community housing providers. This does not affect every tenancy across NSW, only those specifically identified by Homes NSW. The NSW Government passed legislation in October 2016 that made transfer of the management of Homes NSW tenancies to community housing providers automatic. Given these legislative changes, the transfer of tenancy management to a community housing provider is not an appealable decision and Homes NSW is able to transfer the management without the client’s consent.

Amendments to the Housing Act 2001 allow Homes NSW to provide personal and health information related to tenants and their household members to the community housing provider assuming the tenancy management to enable them to adequately prepare for the transfer.

2. Tenancy management transfer – Absence from property

If a tenant has been approved by Homes NSW to be absent from their property, then the community housing provider assuming the tenancy management must accept the decision until the end of the approved period.

At the end of the approved period the community housing provider may then apply their own policy/practice for further assessing the client’s absence.

3. Tenancy management transfer changing a tenancy – Lease terms

Tenants will not see any changes to their lease term when the management of their tenancy transfers to a community housing provider. Once the lease term ends, the community housing provider will apply their own policy to issue additional leases. In the case of those tenants who were on a continuous lease at the time of management transfer, they will remain on this lease until they vacate the property.

4. Tenancy management ending a tenancy – Categorisation

Homes NSW will not assign a former tenant classification to tenancies transferred to community housing providers as the tenancy agreement continues under a concurrent lease.

At the end of the tenancy under the management of the community housing provider, the client must engage the community housing provider for any tenancy related statement or categorisation.