Redlynch residents claim Department of Housing is to blame for nightmare social housing situation

All night parties, stinking oyster shells, used tampons and broken bottles thrown over the fence have made life unbearable for these Redlynch residents who are now calling out the Department of Housing for a failure to act.

Frustrated neighbours living next door to a party house have called for public housing law reform after waging a three-year battle to bring allegedly violent and disrespectful social housing tenants under control.

Stinking oyster shells, used tampons and broken bottles thrown over the fence, all night parties, and disgusting language have made life unbearable for the Redlynch neighbours of a notorious unit leased by the Department of Housing.

A rundown of incidents recorded at the Margaret St property between 2020 up until September this year reveal police attended the unit a total of 30 times.

Officers were called to the unit, which is leased to a single mother, to deal with domestic violence related matters, excessive noise generated by large parties and screaming arguments in the car park.

Dr Susan Jacups has become the unofficial spokeswoman for a group of tenants impacted by the situation who are too afraid to speak out for fear of retaliation.

Dr Susan Jacups is living next door to the apartments from hell, with a single tenant making life difficult for everyone in the street. Picture: Brendan Radke

Following a big blow-up on September 3 that woke the whole street, Department of Housing staff met with police and an officer directly contacted Ms Jacups to try to resolve the situation.

“This has happened all the time. This is the first time police have rung me and police have previously said just keep reporting, keep reporting, keep reporting and (officers) said they have a file on them,” she said.

“It’s so loud that we hear it and we don’t want to hear.”

Ms Jacups claims the tenant has breached the terms of the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act that obliges all Queensland tenants to not “interfere with the reasonable peace, comfort or privacy of a neighbour”.

She has called for social housing tenants to be held accountable for breaches in the same way private leaseholders are, but she claims the Department of Housing continues to support tenants who constantly flout rules laid out in their tenancy agreements.

Ms Jacups has called for the reintroduction of a Newman government move that got tough on public housing tenants who were hit with a “three strikes and you are out” policy before Annastacia Palaszczuk was elected in 2015.

Department of Housing largely escapes scrutiny and regularly cites “privacy reasons” as the reason for not disclosing information about how problem tenants are dealt with.

In a letter to the former housing minister one Margaret St resident at breaking point pleaded for action and also raised serious concern about the welfare of two young children living at the unit complex.

There have been claims made of unattended kids in nappies running up the street, being kept awake all night and not being looked after.

All night parties are held in the car park of the unit building. Picture: Brendan Radke

Associate director-general of Housing and Homelessness Services, Mary-Anne Curtis, responded by encouraging the continued reporting to Child Safety and police but declined to state what action, if any, had been taken against the tenant.

“I assure you the issues you have reported have been taken seriously by staff and each complaint has been investigated … the department is required to respect its tenants’ rights to privacy, which means the department can only provide general advice about whether … action has been taken,” she said.

The Department of Housing, when contacted by the Cairns Post, was “unable to comment on individual cases due to privacy laws,” but claimed obligations of social housing tenants were the same as private leaseholders.

“Where tenancy issues have been identified and substantiated, the department takes appropriate action,” a spokeswoman said.

However, traumatised residents, including Ms Jacups, remained unsatisfied by a failure to address neighbourhood concerns and impacted residents living nearby who are constantly on edge and living in fear of retaliation after making complaints.

“At times it’s high stress, when it’s heightened we’re on edge about retaliation and that’s definitely true” she said.

“(My husband) reckons they will go for us eventually and there’s a fear of property damage.”

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Originally published as Redlynch residents claim Department of Housing is to blame for nightmare social housing situation