Core Eligibility Requirements

Core Eligibility Requirements

Individuals and families applying for assistance for the Homeless with support category must meet the Department’s General Housing eligibility criteria as referred to in the Applications and Eligibility Chapter of this manual (excluding income, assets, debt or other tenancy breaches history).

Homeless with support eligibility

Alternative housing options

Individuals and families applying for the Homeless with support category are expected to use other available options in an attempt to resolve their urgent housing need, such as attempting to obtain accommodation in the private rental market and through other social housing providers.

It is understood that a household’s capacity to access alternative housing may be compromised by a range of factors, including:

• 
  the availability and cost of private rental accommodation that matches the individual’s or family’s housing requirements in their preferred area, as well as other suitable areas
  
• 
  a personal circumstance or characteristic of the household which is likely, or has been shown, to reduce their access to private rental. Examples may include psychiatric, developmental, physical or intellectual disability or mental illness which makes it difficult for the household to rent in the private market.
  
• 
  a history of housing breakdowns due to factors such as inability to make rental payments, to manage relationships with landlords or other tenants, or to manage their housing commitments while other significant issues are affecting them.
  
• 
  an inability to access private rental housing due to their listing on a tenant database
  
• 
  an inability to access private rental brokerage funds or services
  

It is expected the relevant support worker will detail the reasons that alternative housing options, including private rental housing, cannot be secured.

Income Eligibility

To determine total household income, the Department adds together all assessable and non-assessable incomes received by each household member, including Family Tax Benefits Parts A and B legislated entitlements. Income received by dependants under 18 years of age is included to determine whether the household meets the income limits.

If Centrelink income is the only income received by each household member, the household is considered income eligible even though their total dollar income amount may be over the household income limit.

Where an individual is not receiving a Centrelink benefit or pension to which they are entitled, this amount is imputed when determining income eligibility unless they can provide documentation confirming that they are not entitled to the income.

Where an individual’s Centrelink income is temporarily reduced due to an activity test or administrative breach, income eligibility assessment is made on the individual’s full Centrelink entitlement.

Where a non-custodial parent has regular access visits from their children for at least 21% of the year, the relevant single person with dependants income limit is applied. Every second weekend and half school holidays constitutes 21% of the year.

Where a couple apply for the Homeless with support category but one partner is ineligible because they hold a temporary spouse visa or they are permanent residents but subject to the Centrelink two-year waiting period, the relevant couple income limit is applied when determining income eligibility.

The Centrelink GST component is not included when calculating the household’s income.

If the total household income is less than or equal to the maximum gross income limits for the Homeless with support category, the household meets this requirement.

Exceptions to the Homeless with support category income limits

In these circumstances, the household is required to meet the Department’s General Housing income limits.

As part of this process, applicants are required to provide a completed Application for Special Housing Requirements confirming and detailing the medical condition.

Applications submitted on behalf of persons in prison through the THM – Corrections Housing Pathways Initiative may be assessed without income documentation. The Department reassesses income eligibility once an individual is released from prison.

Asset Eligibility

Such costs include the bond, one month’s rent in advance based on median rents in the private rental market, removalist and utility connection and/or transfer charges.

The realisable assets of each household member are added together to determine the total household asset and the total applied against the asset limit for the appropriately sized housing.

Note: See Table 3 of this chapter for further clarification on appropriately sized housing.

The types of assessable assets are the same as those used in determining eligibility for General Housing, but the value of the asset limit is lower.

If the household’s assets are over the asset limits, they are not eligible for the Homeless with support category.

Exceptions to the Homeless with support category asset limits

Households are not required to meet the Homeless with support category asset limits where a member of the household requires major or full modifications. In these circumstances the asset limit for the household is $60,000. Refer to table 4 for the list of modifications that the Department has categorised as either ‘full’ or ‘major’

For more information, see the Applications and Eligibility chapters of this manual.

Outstanding Charges

The Department accepts applications for the Homeless with support category from households that have outstanding charges.

The household’s total outstanding charges are calculated by adding together the total of any outstanding charges from a current or previous tenancy or from any previous bond loans.

Outstanding charges include rental charges from a previous tenancy, outstanding bond loans, tenant responsibility maintenance charges that have been substantiated, water charges, car parking, sleep out charges and service charges.

Repayment requirements

Outstanding charges require a pre-allocation repayment agreement as per the Agreement to Repay Vacated Arrears comprising regular repayments of a minimum amount of $5.00 per week or $10.00 per fortnight until an offer of housing is made.

There is no minimum payment period required before an offer of housing can be made.

The repayment agreement is negotiated and monitored by the local office that holds the application file.

Once housed, the repayment agreement must be honoured until the outstanding charges are paid in full. The regularity of payments and the amount to be paid are determined by the repayment agreement.

Individuals approved under the THM – Corrections Housing Pathways Initiative are generally not in receipt of an independent income at the time of approval, and therefore the start date of an agreement for these clients is subject to the commencement of an income upon their release from prison.

In the case of outstanding charges accrued from a joint tenancy, the household member must:

• 
  begin to repay their portion of the total debt prior to signing a Residential Tenancy Agreement
  
• 
  agree to repay the remainder of the total debt after they have moved into the property.
  

Bankruptcy and outstanding charges

In the case where outstanding charges are part of a Bankruptcy Order or the charges fall outside of the ‘Statute of Limitations’, refer to the Applications and Eligibility chapter of this manual.

Note: Individuals or families who have debts, as part of bankruptcy orders, are not subject to any waiting period before they can apply or be housed under this category.

Family Violence and ownership of real estate

The Department will assess individuals and families living in a ‘family violence’ situation when they own real estate or have equity in property, as for General Housing applicants. This may occur when an individual or family are unable to return to their home, and are staying in crisis accommodation. Refer to 2.2.7 of the Applications and Eligibility Chapter. The household’s realisable assets are assessed at the time they apply.

Housing Size Guidelines

Table 3 Housing Size Guidelines for Homeless with support category assessment is used:

• 
  to determine the appropriate property size a household is eligible to be allocated, and
  
• 
  to determine asset limit calculations.
  

Note: to calculate the total number of bedrooms for each individual or family, the number of bedrooms per grouping is added together.

Household Groupings		Minimum no. of rooms per group
Single person or couple		1 bedroom
Resident 18 years and over		1 bedroom
1 child younger than 18 years of age		1 bedroom
2 children under 18 years of age	2 children of same gender 1 child of each gender	1 bedroom 2 bedrooms
3 children under 18 years of age	same gender 2 children of one gender and 1 of the other gender	2 bedrooms 2 bedrooms
4 children under 18 years of age	same gender 2 children of each gender 3 children of same gender and 1 of the other gender	2 bedrooms 2 bedrooms 3 bedrooms
5 children under 18 years of age	any combination	3 bedrooms
6 children or more under 18 years of age	6 children of the same gender 4 children of one gender and 2 of the other gender any other combination	3 bedrooms 3 bedrooms 4 bedrooms

Property modification categories

Table 4: Property modification categories table

Category	Description
MAJOR	Major modifications include: disabled (step less) shower, disabled toilet, wheelchair access to some parts of the property, wheelchair charging bay, internal fire safety sprinkler system, medical cooling and structural reinforcement for bathroom and bedroom hoists. Generally, this does not include kitchen or laundry modifications as it is expected that a carer will provide assistance with meal preparation and laundry.
FULL	The applicant requires a fully-modified property which is wheelchair accessible, in order to live independently. In addition to the modifications required for the ‘MAJOR’ category, this category would also include full kitchen and laundry modifications.

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