In April, IPART released a draft report into models for setting social and affordable housing rent.
The CIS submission on the IPART draft argues for reforms including:
- All new social housing tenants, and all existing tenants who wish to move, should be provided with informed choice over the dwelling they move to.
- All social housing providers should have the option to set rent discounts or supplements for tenants involved in the choice process
- Based on stated preferences, tenants would be allocated to properties in an equitable and efficient way
- Social housing providers who chose a differentiated rent would retain all the benefit of any rent supplement and bear all the cost of any rent discount
- Tenants who wish to relocate would also face rent differentials on the property they move to.
- Over time, informed choice and differentiated rent should be rolled out to existing tenants, as long as tenants are provided with option(s) to move to other properties with equal or lower rent.
- Government policies should apply equally to community and public housing
- The NSW government should use contestability and competition in contracts with housing providers as incentives for efficiency and service improvement.
- Public housing assets should be transferred to the community sector