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Managing your CHL home
Find essential information for your tenancy, including rent, repairs and how you can get involved in your community. Â
Our commitment to you
Helpful information and resources for your tenancy
We are committed to prioritising customer wellbeing, fostering community inclusion and delivering high-quality, long-term security for our homes because access to safe, secure and affordable housing is the foundation for achieving lasting positive impact.
Our team, including your local housing officer and our customer contact centre, are here to help. If you need broader support, here are some other helpful resources and services.
Support services:
- Ask Izzy – online service directory to find specialist support
- Lifeline 13 11 14 – crisis support and suicide prevention service
- Beyond Blue 1300 224 636 – mental health and wellbeing support service
- 1800RESPECT 1800 737 732 – domestic, family and sexual violence support service
- National Debt Helpline 1800 007 007 – free financial counselling service
- Services Australia (Centrelink) – government payments and services
- If you need an interpreter, please call the Translating and Interpreting Service (TIS) on 131 450. Standard call charges apply.
- If you are deaf or have a hearing or speech impairment, contact us through the National Relay Service.
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Managing your tenancy
Read through each topic related to managing your tenancy, including paying rent, updating your details and how to begin and end your tenancy.
FAQs:
Starting your new tenancy
At the start of your tenancy, your housing officer will explain the terms of your tenancy agreement including information about your rent, eligibility, property condition and utilities. The lease agreement is a legal contract and describes the rights and obligations for both CHL and you. You are responsible for maintaining your tenancy in accordance with your tenancy agreement and tenancy legislation. Just like living in a private rental home, tenants are expected to meet the terms of their tenancy agreement, like being a good neighbour and looking after the property.
Rent and payments
Rent is calculated based on the type of property you rent and the housing program, typically set as a proportion of a household’s income. Tenants living in community housing are usually eligible for Commonwealth Rent Assistance, which forms part of your rent amount. It is your responsibility to apply for this payment from Services Australia (Centrelink).
The rent for your home may be reviewed up to twice yearly. There may also be other charges related to your home, such as water usage. The preferred method for rent payments is by Centrepay Deduction through Centrelink, which is free for our customers. Rent must be paid two weeks in advance at all times. If you do not receive a Centrelink payment, you can instead pay your rent by internet banking transfer, direct debit or by going into a bank branch to make a direct deposit.
We are always here to help and if you start to get behind in payments and need to talk about anything affecting your ability to pay your rent, please reach out to us. If we notice you are behind, we’ll contact you to talk about the situation, discuss your options and provide support referral advice, if required.
Change in your circumstances
It’s important you let us know if you have a change of circumstances which may affect your eligibility or your rent. This may include a change of income, adding a new member to your household or advising if someone leaves. It’s also important to keep your details up to date, including your contact number and next of kin. We know you may also experience changes to your household which means the property is no longer suitable. In these circumstances, we may be able to assist with a transfer to another property that better meets your needs.
Ending your tenancy
When you decide to move out of your home, it’s important you let us know as soon as possible. Tenants must provide a minimum two weeks’ notice period in writing – we will provide you with some forms and a checklist to assist you. Your housing officer will explain the exit process and any obligations you need to meet prior to handing back your keys. It’s important to ensure the property is completely clean and tidy and no rubbish or personal belongings remain. If the formal tenancy holder leaves the property or passes away, a succession of tenancy may be considered in certain circumstances.
Related Documents:
Repairs and maintenance
Need to request repair and maintenance?
Call 1300 245 468 or Contact Us online
We will ensure the property you move into is safe and secure and we will respond to repair requests depending on how urgent the need is. You are responsible for keeping your home in good condition by ensuring it is clean and tidy inside and out. You are encouraged to report any repairs as soon as possible. We will also undertake regular inspections of our properties to ensure they are safe and well maintained.
FAQs:
Requesting a repair
Emergency or urgent repairs should be reported to us as soon as possible by calling 1300 245 468. We have a 24/7 maintenance response centre to assist you. Other routine repair requests can be made via Contact Us forms online.
We will provide a timeframe for the work to be completed and allocate a contractor. The contractor will contact you to arrange a time to undertake the work. It’s important you provide access to your home for work to be completed. We are committed to ensuring our contractors provide the best possible service and will ask you to undertake a survey when the work is completed.
We prioritise repairs depending on how urgent it is and the type of work needed. Timeframes can range from four hours for emergency work to 21 days for non-priority work. An emergency repair is a situation affecting your health or safety or causing serious damage to the property, such as a burst water pipe. In situations where the work cannot be fully completed immediately, the contractor will provide a temporary fix and arrange for a return visit.
Tenant recharges
We understand there will be times when repairs are required due to the actions of tenants or their visitors. In these cases when we carry out the repair, we will charge you to fix the property. If a contractor has arranged to visit your home and you are not there, you will be charged a call-out fee. In the situation that deliberate damage has been done by someone not of your household, a police report must be made and provided to us when reporting the damage to enable a claim and repair. You should report any accidental or deliberate damage to us as soon as possible so we can arrange for repairs to occur.
Making changes to your home
We recognise you may want to alter your property to improve the amenity, or your needs may change because of illness, injury, age or disability and this may mean your home is no longer suitable. It is a condition of your tenancy that you gain written permission from us prior to making any changes. We will assess all requests within 21 working days. If you make any unapproved alterations, we expect you to reinstate the property to its original state using our approved contractors and you will be charged for this.
We will review your request for any disability modifications required to support you to remain in the property and ensure the modification is structurally safe and cost effective. Where a modification request has been declined or has been determined to be unreasonable, alternative housing options will be offered.
Customer standards
CHL is committed to providing the highest standard of service to all our customers.
Our core principles about how we interact with you are at the heart of everything we do. We foster a culture where all customers are treated with respect, dignity, fairness and sensitivity and acknowledge individual needs and circumstances. We also foster mutual respect and expect our team members and contractors to be treated with the same respect.
Our Customer Promise: We have formalised our commitment to providing quality customer service in our Customer Promise, which outlines what you can expect from us when receiving services. Our Respect and Safety Charter outlines expectations about working together and how mutual safety and dignity can be achieved.
CHL responsibilities as a landlord: CHL is a supportive and sustainable tenancy manager and we operate under tenancy legislation frameworks which means we are a landlord. All states and territories have a government authority responsible for implementing and regulating tenancy legislation. Please visit the relevant authority’s website in your location to gain an understanding of what you can expect from us when managing tenancy matters and the relevant tenancy legislation, rights and obligations and what they mean for you.
Your Privacy: Your privacy is important to us. We are committed to handling your personal information in accordance with legislation.
Related Documents:
Connecting customers
By providing you with information, skills and tools, we want to empower you to take an active role in your tenancy and in your community, where you feel welcome, included and supported.
Engagement opportunities
There are many ways you can connect with CHL and your local community; your CHL housing officer can help you further too. In many locations, we facilitate:
- Tenant engagement meetings: a local connection point for our customers to improve quality of life for themselves and their community.
- Neighbour days and celebrations: held in many of our communities across the country celebrating culture and connection.
- Community gardens: a fulfilling and practical solution for communities to grow vegetables, fruit or flowers.
- Education and employment programs: place-based groups, such as wellbeing workshops, employment readiness and educations programs.
- Community spaces: actively used for our customers and collaborations with community partners, local councils, support services and more.
- Impact grants: designed to inspire and remove barriers for individuals and communities who want to achieve their goals.
- Feedback: our customers can provide feedback in multiple ways including through applicable tenant advisory groups, where we seek feedback about our policies, procedures and services.
- Newsletters, website and social media: providing you information about important tenancy matters and how to get involved in activities in your community.
- Storytelling: we regularly welcome our customers to share their story of ‘home’ as an empowering experience for others to learn about.
Support and community partners
We all need help sometimes and we are here to you connect with specialist agencies and community organisations to help you maintain your tenancy and support your wellbeing. We make sure we partner with organisations and agencies who are experts at providing support. Talk to your housing officer about a referral if you need help or see the list of support services on this webpage.
Good neighbours
We offer homes to people from varied backgrounds and lifestyles, often in close-knit communities. Building positive relationships with neighbours is important and while tolerance is necessary, we recognise that neighbour issues can arise.
Your responsibilities as a tenant
Everyone has the right to peaceful enjoyment of their home. Everyone can be a good neighbour by being mindful and respectful of others, including limiting noise, controlling pets and keeping your home maintained. Tenancy laws hold you responsible for your own behaviour, as well as the behaviour of anyone living in or visiting your home.
FAQs:
Anti-social behaviour
It’s important for tenants to understand what steps can be taken to resolve neighbour issues and what is considered unacceptable behaviour. Anti-social behaviour is when someone causes a nuisance or allows one to occur and interferes with the reasonable peace, comfort or privacy of neighbours. We do not tolerate anti-social behaviour that causes harassment, distress or harm. If anti-social behaviour is substantiated and very serious or continues despite our attempts to resolve it, we may take action under the relevant tenancy legislation to end a tenancy.
Making a complaint
We always encourage neighbours to work together to resolve any issues they have where possible, but if you aren’t comfortable or feel unsafe, please talk with your housing officer. There are also multiple community authorities that can assist with neighbourhood issues, such as your local council, animal control and police. If a crime is occurring and you feel unsafe or threatened, always call 000 first.
We can receive complaints about nuisance neighbourhood concerns as well as more serious complaints that involve the police. If this happens, we will work pro-actively with tenants and the relevant authorities to resolve concerns early, where this is possible and where we are able to intervene under tenancy laws.
Feedback and appeals
We are committed to providing quality housing services and we welcome feedback from our customers.
If you have any feedback about your service experience, we want to know. We encourage all forms of feedback, including compliments and improvement suggestions. It is also your right as a tenant to make a complaint or to appeal a decision made by us.Â
FAQs:
Lodging feedback
You can lodge feedback or request an appeal by:
- phoning us on 1300 245 468
- completing our online form via the Contact Us page
- emailing feedback@chl.org.au
- or visiting one of our offices and completing a feedback and appeals form.
We will also actively send you surveys to share your thoughts about our service, what we could improve, what’s working well and what else you would like to see. We encourage you to participate in these surveys and keep your email and mobile phone number up to date so you can receive notifications.
Privacy and confidentiality
You may choose to make a complaint anonymously. However, this will restrict our ability to fully address your concerns and find a resolution. Anonymous feedback can be emailed to feedback@chl.org.au.
Confidential records are maintained about any complaint or appeal received. This includes all correspondence during the process. Your information is used to investigate and resolve your concerns and will only be disclosed with your consent or if required by law. It is also used to improve the services we provide and help us better understand local community needs. For information on how we collect, use and disclose your information, view our Privacy Policy.
Advocacy
Our customers have the right to seek out support and independent advice and we encourage you to do so at any time. If a complaint or appeal has not been resolved to your satisfaction, you have the right to escalate your concerns to an external authority. The external authority may investigate the matter themselves or provide mediation. Key external authorities, which may differ depending on your location, include:
- Your responsible tenancy authority, such as Fair Trading or Consumer Affairs
- Your tenant advocacy service
- Your state tribunal
- Your state’s housing department complaints pathway
- Your state’s housing registrar pathway.
Related Documents:
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