QUESTION:  Is it possible to prevent units in our building from being rented by public housing to rent-assisted tenants?  We understand that the government is encouraging owners to enter into such agreements that guarantee rent and take care of any maintenance necessary.

We are in an expensive eastern suburb of Sydney and this could lower the standard of the building for the three (only) owner-occupiers and will decrease the value of the property as well.

Can we raise a by-law preventing owners from doing this? – Worried Owner via Forum.

ANSWER: You can’t prevent anyone from renting their unit to anyone else but, in any case, we shouldn’t make any assumptions about how anyone will behave based simply on their social and economic status.  Any issues of antisocial behaviour should be dealt with if they happen.

In fact, according to Forum regular MattB, Housing NSW tenants have to abide by a ‘social charter’ with conditions for good behavior that are far more onerous than rules for private rental tenants or owners.

“If tenants constantly misbehave, the department will act fairly swiftly once they receive substantiated complaints,”  he says.

Is housing rent-assisted tenants in private strata a smart move or bad policy?  Join the Forum discussion HERE.