TRANSFER

PRIORITY TRANSFER
See PRIORITY ASSISTANCE POLICY
TRANSFER AT HOMESWEST REQUEST
See NEW LIVING PROGRAMMES – TENANT RELOCATION POLICY
See TENANCY MANAGEMENT POLICY (for under occupied tenancies)

PREAMBLE

Once a tenant occupies Homeswest accommodation, occasions may arise in which a tenant may wish to transfer to alternate Homeswest accommodation.

There are three ways by which a tenant may make application for a transfer if they meet the eligibility criteria. These are:
Eligibility Transfer
Cross Transfer

If the situation is one of extreme urgency, the transfer will be undertaken on a priority basis.

Eligibility Transfer: applies only to families who have accepted apartment accommodation and/or seniors in bed-sitters. It does not apply to any other tenancy. This will be on a ‘wait turn’ basis – that is, the application is listed in order of date of lodgement in a ‘queue’ order and an allocation will be received when the applicant’s turn on the waiting list has been reached for his/her most preferred zone.

Cross-Transfer: is a transfer that tenants organise for themselves. A tenant seeking to transfer locates another tenant who wishes to ‘swap’ accommodation with them. Provided that both parties are eligible for the accommodation in question and Homeswest approves the transfers, the tenants then exchange properties at their own cost

A Transfer at Homeswest Request will be affected, with the consent of the tenant, where Homeswest wishes to recover the property. See PRIORITY ASSISTANCE POLICY.

POLICY GUIDELINES & PRACTICES
GENERAL CONDITIONS APPLICABLE TO ALL CATAGORIES OF TRANSFER (except those transferring at Homeswest’s request)
Tenancy Breaches
1. In order to qualify for a transfer, a tenant must have no substantial breaches of tenancy or the Residential Tenancies Act (RTA) for a period of at least one-year.

1.1 Example:
A tenant must:
• Not have a debt;
• Have maintained acceptable property standards; and
• Not have been subject to complaints about anti social behaviour.

1.2 If a tenant breaches conditions of the Tenancy Agreement or Residential Tenancies Act a letter will be sent to the tenant advising of the breach and its consequences and giving an opportunity to rectify the breach if appropriate. If the breach has not been rectified within a reasonable amount of time the transfer application may be withdrawn.

Right of Appeal

2 Transfer applicants are eligible to appeal a decision regarding their application for transfer through the Homeswest Appeals Mechanism.

2.1 See. Homeswest Appeals Mechanism

Transfer Costs
3 All tenants will be required to pay all costs associated with the transfer.

 3.1 These are:
Two weeks assessed rent for the new accommodation
  • Bond Accrual payments (See Bond Accrual Policy 3.2)
  • Any established tenant liability cost incurred from the previous property from which they have transferred.
  • Payment of water consumption and any other debts
  • Stamp Duty where applicable
Removal and Service Connection Fees at new property.
Property Inspection and Tenant Liability
4. A property inspection must be undertaken before a transfer application is approved and again before the transfer occurs and estimated tenant liability paid before the tenant transfers. 		4.1 See Tenant Liability Policy for guidelines.
4.2 See s 15.4 for Cross Transfers
Bond
5. As per Bond Policy, tenants transferring from a property where they were not paying a bond will be required to pay bond accrual at the new property. 		5.1 See Bond Accrual Policy
Eligibility for Homeswest Assistance
6. Tenants who are no longer eligible for Homeswest assistance are not eligible for a transfer. 		6.1 See Tenant Eligibility Policy.
CONDITIONS APPLICABLE TO ELIGIBILITY AND SPECIAL TRANSFER
Vacation of property before transfer received
7. Should a tenant vacate prior to receiving a transfer, the transfer application is withdrawn and the transfer listing date can not be used as a listing date if the applicant requires assistance in the future. 		7.1 See Priority Assistance Policy 25 to 25.2 for variation for priority transfer(victims of domestic violence or who have a fear for their safety are exempt from this condition).
Listing Date
8. The listing date of a transfer application is the date that the application is received by Homeswest office. 		8.1 Application for transfer must be in writing and the listing date is the date of the initial contact. The Accommodation Manager may be asked to assist in completing the application form.
Valid Offer of Accommodation to a Transfer Applicant
9. A valid offer of accommodation is consistent with a valid offer of wait turn accommodation for applicants on the housing assistance list. 		9.1 See
• To s 9.5 Allocations Policy.
• S 9 to 12.1 Priority Policy.
Eligibility Transfer
10. The criteria for an Eligibility Transfer are:
• Families occupying apartment accommodation in any location.
• Seniors occupying bed-sitter accommodation in any location.		  
   
CROSS TRANSFERS
12. Tenants may organise their own transfer by finding another tenant to undertake a direct exchange of accommodation.
Eligibility for Accommodation Type
13. Both tenants must be eligible for the accommodation they intend to transfer to. 		13.1 Example: A single senior in family accommodation cannot cross transfer with a family, because he/she is only eligible for seniors' accommodation. In such an instance, he/she has been permitted to live in accommodation for which he/she is ineligible for other reasons. In any transfer, Homeswest would require that accommodation type eligibility requirements be met.
Homeswest Approval
14. Homeswest must approve the cross transfer before it occurs.		 14.1 Both tenants must be eligible to transfer (see s 1-2 of this Policy)
14.2 If the transfer involves two regions, both regions must approve the arrangement
14.3 If cross transferring between regions the applicant lodges their ’Cross Transfer’ application with the region they currently reside.
14.4 Both tenants must have no substantial breaches of tenancy or the Residential Tenancies Act (RTA) for a period of at least one-year for an application to be approved.
Property Inspection
14.5 A property inspection must be undertaken before a transfer application is approved and estimated tenant liability paid before the tenants transfer.
14.6 A second inspection at the time of the transfer is only required if there is a substantial delay between the property inspection for approval purposes (see s 5 of this policy) and the date of the transfer occurring.
Transfer Costs
15 Tenants will be required to pay all costs associated with the cross transfer 		 
Rental Payments
16. The new rent will be assessed at the same rate as in the previous tenancy.		  
TRANSFER AT HOMESWEST’S REQUEST
17. Homeswest may request a tenant to transfer to another property for the purposes of redevelopment or because of under occupancy. 		17.1 See New Living-Tenant Relocation Policy (for redevelopment transfers) and Tenancy Management Policy s 13 (for under occupied transfers)
17.2 Homeswest may offer incentives to encourage a tenant to relocate For redevelopment see New Living- Tenant Relocation Policy and for under occupancy see Tenancy Management Policy s 12