Private Rental Assistance

In reply to Ms SANDERSON (Adelaide) (17 November 2015).

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON (Ramsay—Minister for Communities and Social Inclusion, Minister for Social Housing, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Ageing, Minister for Multicultural Affairs, Minister for Youth, Minister for Volunteers): I have been advised:

1. Housing SA provides bond guarantees to approved customers renting in the private rental market. We also provide bonds into short to medium-term housing options such as boarding houses and supportive housing accommodation. This often accounts for why customers receive a high number of bonds in a short period of time.

Customers are not required to repay their bond guarantee to Housing SA unless it is claimed in full, or in part, by the property owner/agent at the end of the tenancy.

If a bond, or part of a bond, is claimed by an owner/agent and is therefore not returned to Housing SA, a debt will be raised against the customer for the amount claimed. Housing SA always seeks to reclaim this money from the customer; however, a debt is incurred by Housing SA until such time as it is repaid.