From the Registrar
Welcome to the April edition of the Housing Registrar Quarterly.
This year continues to bring growth and system reform opportunities for Victoria with the delivery of the Big Housing Build and the Social Housing Regulation Review’s (SHRR) Final Report due in May. We also anticipate the Victorian Ombudsman’s report into complaints management in social housing to be produced over the coming months. With a substantial regulatory reform agenda ahead, we remain committed to delivering risk-based, proportionate and tenant-outcomes focused regulation through any periods of transition.
We have finalised the majority of annual compliance assessments, and have been busy engaging with registered agencies over the past few months to discuss performance and regulatory action plans. Outcomes of these assessments will be published on the Public Register, accompanied by Executive Summaries and Performance Reports for each registered agency. We thank registered agencies’ engagement with the Housing Registrar to facilitate timely assessments and performance reporting this year.
Best practice transparency and performance reporting continues to be a priority for the Housing Registrar to promote market confidence, attract growth and raise the reputation of the sector. In February 2022, responding to feedback received from last year’s stakeholder survey, the Housing Registrar published the first sector dashboard. The dashboard highlights the sectors’ performance over the past five years in relation to Key Performance Measures (KPMs) for tenancy sustainability, evictions and rental arrears. We will be seeking further feedback this year through our 2022 Annual Feedback Survey. This information is invaluable for informing improvements to our regulatory approach and we look forward to receiving registered agencies’ feedback.
On 30 March 2022, changes to the Housing Act 1983 came into effect for reporting requirements. The Guidance Note – Reporting changes for registered agencies provides information for registered agencies of these changes, and sets out amended reporting requirements.
This edition of the newsletter features updates on:
- public reporting of 2020-21 annual compliance assessments outcomes including the sector dashboard
- reporting changes to the Housing Act 1983
- new registrations in Victoria
- resourcing changes in the Housing Registrar.
On behalf of the team, we look forward to continuing our engagement with you in 2022.
Yours sincerely
David Schreuder
Registrar of Housing Agencies
Update on the 2020-2021 Annual Compliance Assessments
Annual compliance assessments for the 2020-21 performance year have been assessed by the Registrar of Housing Agencies*. Compliance and performance information for each registered agency is available on the Public Register and provides:
- an executive summary for each annual compliance assessment
- registered agency compliance status for each Performance Standard
- a Performance Report containing performance against a selection of KPMs.
* Please note that the annual compliance assessment for one registered agency is not yet finalised due to a delayed Annual General Meeting and other regulatory matters. It is anticipated that compliance and performance information for this registered agency will be published in Q4.
Feedback on the public reporting of compliance and performance information is welcomed by email: housingregistrar@dtf.vic.gov.au.
Housing Registrar public reporting
In February 2022, the Housing Registrar published the first sector dashboard. This dashboard provides five-year performance data for the community housing sector’s performance for tenancy sustainability, evictions and rental arrears.
This dashboard continues our commitment to transparency and reporting, and complements performance reporting for each registered agency through Performance Reports and annual compliance assessment outcomes reported in the Public Register.
The dashboard will be updated annually and can be found on the Housing Registrar website.
The dashboard will be followed by the annual Sector Performance Report (SPR) to be published for Q4. The SPR will contain detailed sector-level performance information and insights including financial performance information for the 2020-21 financial year.
Feedback on the public reporting of compliance and performance information is welcomed by email: housingregistrar@dtf.vic.gov.au.
Changes to the Housing Act 1983
On 30 March 2022, amendments to the Housing Act 1983 (the Act) came into effect, which amend reporting requirements for registered agencies.
These changes have been introduced to improve the efficiency of annual compliance assessments, ensure registered agency boards have oversight of the organisation’s regulatory performance and facilitate more timely publication of performance data. The amendments also extend the time for reporting changes to the Register of Housing Agencies to reduce burden on registered agencies.
A summary of the changes is provided below:
|
|
Act |
Previously |
Currently |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Self-assessment against performance standards |
s105(1)(a) |
No certification required |
Must be certified by the registered agency’s governing body prior to submission to the Registrar |
| Provided not more than 28 days after the Annual General Meeting (AGM) | Must be provided to the Housing by 31 October annually | ||
|
Register of Housing Agencies (register) |
s91 |
Changes to the register must be notified within 14 days |
Changes to the register must be notified within 28 days |
|
Financial Performance Report |
s104 |
Provided not more than 28 days after the AGM |
Must be provided to the Housing Registrar not more than 14 days after the AGM. |
|
Audited financial statements |
s105(1)(b) |
||
|
Annual declarations |
s106 |
The Housing Registrar consulted with registered agencies and the Community Housing Industry Association Victoria prior to the introduction of these legislative amendments.
For further information on these changes and reporting requirements, please refer to the Guidance Note – Reporting changes for registered agencies.
Registration and growth
The Housing Registrar continues to receive a high volume of registration enquiries from both local and interstate providers in response to funding opportunities stemming from the Big Housing Build and the National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation (NHFIC).
In this quarter, the Housing Registrar approved the registration of two housing providers, Assemble x HCA HA Limited and BlueCHPV Limited.
Assemble x HCA HA Limited (HCA Assemble)
HCA Assemble is a special purpose vehicle set-up through a joint venture partnership between Assemble and Housing Choices Australia (HCA). HCA is a registered housing association in Victoria.
Upon registration, HCA Assemble intends to develop and operate multiple project sites across Melbourne. The sites will provide a mixed tenure of 20 per cent social housing properties and 80 per cent private housing properties comprising affordable housing, market housing and commercial tenancies.
HCA Assemble’s vision is to create sustainable and healthy communities that provide direct relief to people in need through low rental housing. HCA Assemble will not seek government grants to deliver on projects; rather, funding will be sourced from NHFIC and private equity partners. This is in line with the registered agency’s goal to achieve greater scale and efficiencies without grants from government.
BlueCHPV Limited (BlueCHPV)
BlueCHPV develops social and affordable housing for households on low-to-moderate incomes experiencing housing stress, including key workers, seniors and those at risk of homelessness. BlueCHPV is a subsidiary of BlueCHP, a Tier 1 Community Housing Provider under the National Regulatory System for Community Housing. BlueCHP currently provides housing for more than 1,900 people across NSW and QLD.
BlueCHPV intends to develop new housing stock in Victoria using seed funding from BlueCHP and debt and grants from the Social Housing Growth Fund.
The Registrar expects to complete further registrations this year, based on discussions with potential applicants.
Resourcing changes in the Housing Registrar
Sashi Perera - Senior Regulatory Analyst (Compliance and Investigations)
The Housing Registrar welcomed new Senior Regulatory Analyst, Sashi Perera, on 4 January 2022.
“I worked as an immigration lawyer for ten years in private firms, the United Nations and NGOs in Australia and overseas. After completing my Masters in Law in Melbourne, I worked in advisory roles with the Department of Justice and Community Safety and Court Services Victoria. I’m excited to use the skills from my work with migrants and refugees to augment tenant focused outcomes in Victoria’s community housing sector.”
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