Back to: Introduction: Housing Allowance

Young Person Responsibilities

To maintain the ongoing payment of a Housing Allowance or Staying On Subsidy, a young person must:

• maintain the living arrangement as their primary place of residence
• maintain regular engagement with their Transition Coach, meeting face to face or by phone at least every six weeks
• participate in informal and formal reviews of the living arrangement on a quarterly basis or as required, and
• provide evidence of meeting their obligations of the living arrangement and/or provide consent for their Home Stretch WA provider to check in with their carer or the payment recipient.

Landlord Responsibilities

• A Housing Allowance payment recipient will have their responsibilities described and defined by either the Lease Agreement, Boarding or Lodging Agreement, or as agreed in a Home Stretch Living Arrangement.
• Housing Allowance payment recipients must also respond to requests for informal and formal reviews of the living arrangement on a quarterly basis, or as required

• Landlords must know that the housing allowance is taxable income and be advised that it should be declared to ATO and Services Australia (Centrelink). 
• Receiving a housing allowance may impact any benefit they receive or their rent.
• They are responsible for repayment of any money obtained by fraud or deception. 

Home Stretch WA Provider Responsibilities

Home Stretch WA Coordinator can Delegate Authority to a Team member to support, review and approve Housing Allowance Applications. Where a Staying on Facilitator is in place this role is usually the delegated role as they are generally responsible for negotiating Living Together Agreements.

While not a specific role in a Home Stretch WA team, there are many benefits in identifying and developing an experienced Team Member to become responsible for supporting Housing Allowance Applications.

The key roles of the Home Stretch WA providers are to:

• Support Young People to explore and identify Living Arrangements
• Assist Young People to develop proposals for Safe, Stable and Affordable Housing
• Provide support around negotiating with a landlord
• Negotiate Living Together Agreements
• Monitor and reviewing living arrangements on a regular basis
• Submit new applications to extend Allowance
• Provide information to the Department of Communities as required.

Other responsibilities Home Stretch WA providers might include:

• Establish Housing Tenure through a Lease, Boarding/Lodging Agreement OR negotiate a Home Stretch Living Together Agreement
• Support the Landlord to understand and agree to the conditions of the Housing Allowance Payment
• Collect payment information and confirm identity of payment recipient.