Victorian affordable housing tenants say issues with overflowing rubbish, broken door met with slow response
Tenants said rubbish went uncollected at their affordable housing building earlier this year. (Supplied)
In short:
Residents in a housing project for low-and-moderate-income earners say their building was unlawfully entered after they reported a malfunctioning front door earlier this year.
It's one of several complaints related to a major player in Victoria's fast-growing affordable rental sector, which offers government-owned rentals at below-market rates.
What's next?
The tenancy manager, National Affordable Housing Victoria, says it addressed the issues promptly once they were brought to its attention.
Tenants in an affordable housing building in Melbourne say they've faced security issues and knee-deep piles of uncollected rubbish since they moved into their government-owned apartment block about 18 months ago.
Their experiences with Victoria's affordable rental program — marketed as a unique alternative to the strained rental market — have left some wondering if they would have been better off in private rentals.
The building in inner Melbourne was among the first to house people under the scheme, which generally offers three-year leases in government-owned properties for at least 10 per cent below the market rate.
The residents the ABC spoke to generally agreed their building had fulfilled its purpose of increasing their choice of modern housing in competitive, well-connected areas, allowing them to save money, or at least spend less of it on rent, over the course of their three-year leases.
But some tenants expressed concern over what they described as a gap between the program's promise and its reality.
Alexander Clarke has concerns about the way the affordable housing building where he lives is being managed. (Supplied: Alexander Clarke)
The most serious complaint related to a malfunctioning front door that meant members of the public could enter the building without a keycard in April this year.
"It basically just turned into a shopping centre door, where you walk up to it and it opens to you," resident Alexander Clarke said.
The building's tenancy manager, National Affordable Housing Victoria (NAHV), said it had fixed the issue as a matter of urgency once it was reported.
But Mr Clarke alleges the issue went a number of weeks between being reported and being fixed.
Mr Clarke said someone stole about $1,700 worth of equipment and a garage door opener from his partner's car while he was waiting for the repair.
Another tenant said a suitcase of their clothing was stolen from a common area.
Residents say they had their property stolen during a time when the door of the building would not lock, allowing anyone to walk in off the street. (Supplied)
A police investigation remains open, and CCTV footage seen by the ABC shows a masked and hooded person wandering into the building in the early hours of a Tuesday morning.
Mr Clarke said the issue posed a "risk to the safety of people living in the building".
"It gave free access to everyone to come through,"he said.
The ABC has chosen not to identify the building in case security issues resurface in the future.
Rubbish in piles after contractor dissolves
The ABC has spoken with members of four households who raised issues like poor cleanliness in common areas, high staff turnover and maintenance requests languishing for longer than expected.
"We've been through six property managers in the bit over a year-and-a-half, nearly two years, that we've lived here, four of which we weren't even notified when they changed," Mr Clarke said.
Bins overflowed outside the building earlier in 2024. (Supplied)
Over the recent winter, tenants were concerned to see rubbish piling up in the bin room due to a problem with its collection.
Margie, a resident who wanted her surname withheld for privacy, said she sent NAHV two breach of duty notices as the issue worsened over a period of two or more weeks.
Residents complained cleaning in some common areas was poor. (Supplied)
"It was hard to even walk into the bin room," she said.
"I was just surprised at how aloof they were, like 'This is not a problem'," she said.
Margie said she was eventually told the waste management contractor had become insolvent.
NAHV said it appointed a new company soon afterwards.
But two tenants said the rubbish chute remained clogged, creating amenity issues.
NAHV has also confirmed that two apartments were being investigated for mould, but the extent and cause of the infiltration was not known.
Problems have also been reported with this Cheltenham affordable housing building. (ABC News: Jesse Thompson)
In a separate affordable rental building in Cheltenham, which has encountered issues of its own, residents have been waiting for dishwashers to be installed for almost a year.
NAHV said there had been extensive delays finding and negotiating with suppliers, but an installation date would be confirmed soon.
Taxpayer-funded program questioned
The state government has big plans in the coming years to scale up the affordable sector to 2,400 properties, using funding from its $5.3 billion social housing fund, the Big Housing Build.
It describes the program as a "unique alternative to the private rental market" intended to support those who earn too much money to be eligible for social housing, but would be at risk of rental stress on the private market.
NAHV is the lead agency in a consortium of companies delivering the program. Awarded a $3.3 million government contract late in 2022, it currently manages 267 affordable rentals.
But at least one academic has questioned why funding for social housing is being funnelled into the scheme, which can disqualify applicants who would end up spending more than 30 per cent of their income on rent.
Hypothetically, that means single applicants could be ineligible for a one-bedroom home recently advertised in Coburg at $354 per week if they earn less than about $61,000.
"In a closer to perfect world, where those households most in need would be catered for and housed well and securely, then by all means, focus on moderate income households," Dr Kate Shaw from the University of Melbourne said.
"But to do that while there are still people in dire need not being housed at all is a real misalignment of priorities."
A state government spokesperson said applicants could spend up to 40 per cent of their income on rent if approval meant they could save on expenses elsewhere.