About 100 South Australian Housing Trust tenants on notice under new eviction policy

About 100 Housing Trust tenants are one strike away from eviction under a new policy announced this week.

About 100 Housing Trust tenants are one strike away from eviction.

A recently announced policy includes a three-strikes rule, replacing a more hands-off departmental policy which gave tenants up to seven warnings before they were evicted.

Following inquiries from the Sunday Mail, Human Services Minister Michelle Lensink revealed that “about 100 people” were already on two out of three strikes for behaviour which could include drug offences, assaulting neighbours or damaging property.

Each of those tenants has been put on notice.

“The vast majority of public housing tenants do the right thing,” Ms Lensink said.

“However, there continues to be a small number who engage in serious and ongoing anti-social behaviour.

Human Services Minister Michelle Lensink.

“It is particularly frustrating when we know there are many people who could benefit from secure public housing, yet a small minority abuse the privilege of being a public housing tenant.”

There are about 34,000 Housing SA properties but many are uninhabitable because of damage, and almost 4000 people remain on the most-critical waiting list for a home.

The new policy does not rule out immediate eviction for the worst criminal behaviour but tenants will have their cases assessed by the SA Civil and Administrative Tribunal before a determination s made.

For the first time, the policy details 13 types of bad behaviour that will attract an official strike, ranging from “minor” acts of vandalism or noise complaints, to “moderate” concerns such as verbally abusing a neighbour or damaging property and “serious” crimes such as producing child porn or selling drugs.

Ms Lensink said the policy meant Housing SA staff could intervene earlier with people given their first strike and support them to change their behaviour and stay in the home.

She has said some allowances may be made for people with mitigating factors, such as if they are experiencing domestic violence that leads to damage to a property.

Many long-suffering Housing Trust tenants have welcomed the policy as a way to crackdown on neighbours who repeatedly cause trouble.

One man who contacted the Sunday Mail feared for his safety living next to a group of people in Housing Trust homes who had been verbally threatening and physically abusive.

SA Housing Authority boss Michael Buchan has also flagged the creation of a dedicated complaints line to take calls about disruptive tenants.

The backlog of maintenance work on Housing SA properties has blown out to at least $700 million in recent years.