RENTAL POLICY MANUAL

INTRODUCTION

The State Housing Commission, trading since 1985 as Homeswest, was established by the State Housing Act 1946 and more recently has operated under the Housing Act 1980. In June 1999, Homeswest became a business unit of the Ministry of Housing, responsible for the rental and associated functions. In 2006 the Machinery of Government (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act replaced the State Housing Commision with the Housing Authority, which is governed by the Director General of the Department of Housing and Works rather than a Board of Commissioners.

Homeswest, through the State Government, is party to the Commonwealth State Housing Agreement 1989 (CSHA), which is the framework by which Commonwealth funds are provided to the States/Territories for housing assistance to people on low and moderate incomes. The overriding aim of the CSHA is the following:

“... to ensure that every person in Australia has access to secure adequate and appropriate housing at a price within his or her capacity to pay by seeking to:
alleviate housing-related poverty; and
ensure that housing assistance is, as far as possible, delivered equitably to persons resident in different forms of housing tenure.”

The CSHA also sets out a number of principles which must be followed by the States/Territories when managing their housing programs.

HOMESWEST’S OBJECTIVES

Homeswest’s mission is to provide a quality service to ensure Western Australians have access to housing. To achieve this the organisation has established the following objectives:

Access to Suitable Housing.

To provide appropriate and affordable housing options for people who cannot access the private market.

Quality Service.

To ensure that housing assistance products and services are delivered in an equitable and effective manner.

Financial Viability.

To ensure that funds are used efficiently to enhance the long term financial viability.

Homeswest provides a wide range of housing services to the people of Western Australia. In addition to public rental housing Homeswest also offers home loans, develops and sells land, builds houses, and provides bond assistance for tenants in the private rental market.