Community housing more likely to threaten eviction than public housing

Soolin McCauley moved 10 times after she was evicted from her community housing unit of five years, crisscrossing between sleeping in a car, tent and boarding house.After being sent another eviction notice to appear at NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) due to rental arrears, she moved in with her former partner."I felt like my only option was to just go in there and agree to leave," Ms McCauley said.According to new data obtained by the ABC, community housing tenants are more likely to face eviction applications than those in public housing.In 2025, the largest community providers in NSW were almost three times more likely to lodge eviction applications with NCAT.The data showed community and public housing providers lodged 6,327 and 5,547 applications respectively, with more than six in 10 related to evictions.Community housing had an eviction application rate of 7.94 per 100 dwellings, while public housing had a rate of 3.71.The national peak body representing the community housing sector said public housing operated under different funding and regulatory arrangements.It said those included strict rules surrounding managing rental arrears and maintaining financial viability."They cannot draw on a state government budget to absorb an ongoing loss of rental income," Australian Community Housing CEO Mark Degotardi said."These differences matter when comparing how arrears are managed and the number of tribunal applications."An eviction application does not necessarily result in an actual eviction."University of New South Wales's Chris Martin, who has researched evictions in social housing, said not much has changed in a decade."The fact community housing providers still have this elevated rate of eviction applications is a cause for concern," he said."It's a similar client group. Why is community housing resorting to eviction applications quite a bit more readily than public housing colleagues?"Largest community housing providers send bulk of eviction applicationsCommunity housing providers are registered in one of three tiers based on the organisation's scale and scope of activities.Tier 1 providers face the highest level of performance and regulation requirements because a failure to comply has the "potential to impact on a large numbers of tenants and assets".Tier 1 community housing providers in NSW are responsible for almost 40,000 dwellings, while Homes NSW manages close to 100,000 public housing dwellings.Community housing's Tier 1 providers had the highest rates of eviction applications.Dr Martin said policymakers looked at Tier 1 providers for leadership in the sector."Community housing [Tier 1 providers] should be able to back up the claim it regularly makes about improved customer service," he said.Dr Martin said one of the key requirements for Tier 1 providers was ongoing housing development, which meant looking for private finance.But that created incentives that left community housing tenants more vulnerable to eviction, according to the Tenants' Union of New South Wales.Leo Patterson Ross points out that Tier 1 providers have less flexibility than other providers. (Four Corners: Mark Hiney)"[Tier 1 providers] are in a position where they're borrowing money and they have higher debts compared to their operating costs than other providers," chief executive Leo Patterson Ross said."So they have higher rent collection requirements than other providers. They also have less capacity or less flexibility in negotiating rents."Most eviction applications due to rental arrearsRental arrears are the most common reason for eviction applications in social housing, which includes both public and community housing.Mr Patterson Ross said community housing providers were not necessarily lodging eviction applications to turf out tenants."But [they're] using the threat of removing them from their home in order to negotiate a repayment plan," he said."That means that the repayment plans are often negotiated under duress, a fear of what will happen if they don't agree to what's being put on the table."Experts have said community housing is likely to be where social housing continues to expand. (ABC News: Liam Patrick)Homes NSW, the government agency that manages public housing, said people living in community housing had the same rights and protections as other social housing tenants.The Registrar of Community Housing, which monitors providers, reported the community housing eviction rate was 0.59 per cent in the last financial year.In the same period, public housing managed by Homes NSW had a lower eviction rate of 0.33 per cent."An application to NCAT does not necessarily mean a tenant has been or will be evicted," a spokesperson said."Social housing providers may use NCAT processes as part of managing a tenancy, including to address rent arrears. "The data cited cannot be used to determine eviction rates because it does not show the outcome of proceedings."Calls for greater oversight in community housing sectorLast year, Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute researchers predicted community housing was likely to be where social housing expands because it was largely funded through Commonwealth Rent Assistance payments to eligible tenants.Public housing tenants do not qualify for rent assistance.Mr Patterson Ross said the funding model placed community housing tenants as "middlemen" between the federal government and community housing providers."[They] have to manage the money coming in from Centrelink and the money out to the provider, and their housing is put at risk if it doesn't work," he said."Now that funding is a very roundabout and inefficient way of funding community housing providers."The Supreme Court of Victoria made a landmark ruling in 2019 (ABC News: Shane Willner-Browne)A landmark case in the Victorian Supreme Court meant that community housing tenants did not have the same legal recourse when facing eviction, Dr Martin said."Community housing provider was held not to be subject to judicial review in the same way that the Victorian public housing provider is," he said.Dr Martin called for transparent reporting of evictions across the rental market."Applications for eviction all go to a tribunal," he said."They could be reporting eviction rates for public housing, for community housing and for private landlords."A new start in public housingAfter leaving her former partner, Ms McCauley spent the next few months moving between different temporary accommodation providers, including a stay at a lodging house with mostly male tenants.She spent a few weeks camping out in inner Sydney, then a month at a hotel, then a women's shelter.Three months was the longest time Ms McCauley lived in the same place over a 12-month period."I didn't have a choice but to handle it … my safety has been at risk again and again," she said.Soolin McCauley said she spent about a year resolving a dispute in NCAT. (ABC News: Greg Bigelow)In early August, Ms McCauley found some stability when she moved into her new public housing unit.After paying her rent late for the first time since moving, she noticed the difference."Being even two weeks in [rent] arrears means immediately getting sent to NCAT in community housing," Ms McCauley said."In public housing, it just means getting a strongly worded email."