In public housing, the market rent is assessed every 12 months.
If your market rent increases, you should receive proper notice of the rent increase. If you believe that the increase makes your market rent excessive (ie too high), you can apply to the Director of Consumer Affairs Victoria for a rent assessment. One of things they can consider is if the home is in good condition or if it needs repair.
The rebated rent is set twice a year based on the household income at that time and is fixed for up to 26 weeks (even if household income increases between assessments).
However, if the household income goes down between assessments then tenants can apply to have their rebated rent reduced.
Each time your rebated rent is assessed, you will receive a letter from the Director of Housing asking you to confirm your household income.
It is very important for you to check this letter carefully. You need to make sure that all the details are up to date and correct. If the income details are not correct you should contact your local housing office as soon as possible to have the details corrected.
You may be required to attend your local housing office to provide confirmation and evidence of your income for each assessment.
It is important that you respond to any request from the Director of Housing to confirm your income details. If the Director of Housing does not receive confirmation of your income, you may have your rebate withdrawn, fall into rent arrears and end up being evicted.
If you receive income from Centrelink you can sign up for the income confirmation service. This means that your income information goes directly from Centrelink to the Director of Housing. Each time your pension or benefit changes that information is passed on to the Director of Housing to ensure that they have the correct income details when they do the rebated rent assessment.
There are a number of different polices that effect how income is treated and how your rebated rent is calculated. If you do not think the Director of Housing has calculated your rebated rent correctly you can contact us.