There are a range of housing assistance options for people on low incomes who need to rent accommodation. Housing NSW is a major provider of this assistance, and other government agencies also provide funding to a range of community based organisations to provide other forms of housing assistance.
Housing NSW provides:
- Public rental housing
- Financial assistance to enable eligible households to access and maintain a tenancy in the private rental market (through the Rentstart, Special Assistance Subsidy - Special and Special Assistance Subsidy - Disability programs)
- Temporary Accommodation (through Rentstart)
- Emergency Temporary Accommodation.
Housing NSW also provides the tenancy management for Aboriginal Housing Office properties. These dwellings provide rental housing specifically for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander households.
A range of non government organisations such as community, welfare and church groups provide:
- Medium to long term rental housing including housing managed by and for Aboriginal households
- Crisis accommodation such as refuges and hostels
- Supported housing for a range of households with special needs.
To access assistance, households must generally meet an income and assets tests and other eligibility criteria. Applicants may register interest for community housing by directly contacting a community housing provider, or, when applying for public housing, by ticking ‘Yes’ on the Housing Register Form when it asks ‘Do you wish to be considered for housing with a community housing provider?’.
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