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Tenant debt soars to $41m

Rubbish removal is part of the debt.

The amount public housing tenants owe the State Government for repairs, rubbish removal, rent and water bills has blown out to more than $41 million.

The Opposition says the outstanding debt is a “black hole”, because much of it will never be repaid.

Department of Housing figures tabled in Parliament this week show outstanding tenant debt had increased $29.4 million since June 2007, from $12.1 million to $41.5 million on April 30 this year. About $7.96 million included in this financial year’s figure has been deemed “non-recoverable” and will be written off, but the write-off is yet to be signed off on.

The department had $31.62 million of outstanding tenant debt on its books at the end of last financial year.

Almost half the $41 million figure — $19.88 million — is money owed for damage. Debt from unpaid water bills stood at $5.25 million and rent at $5.87 million.

Shadow housing minister Fran Logan said the figures proved the department was not managing its properties or chasing up debt effectively.

He said it was unclear how much outstanding debt was written off over time, so the problem could be bigger than the figures suggested.

The increase of outstanding debt from unpaid water bills — from $1.9 million in 2007 to $5.25 million this year — showed the impact of water bill increases on WA’s poorest people because they could no longer afford to pay their bills.

“These figures reflect that this department is more focused on developing luxury apartments in Karratha, with Pelago, than looking after its core business,” Mr Logan said.

“The department ... is clearly not managing its tenancies.”

The department will test six-month probationary tenancies for all new tenants in its south metropolitan district from next month to weed out troublesome tenants.

Department of Housing general manager service delivery Greg Cash said the increase in debt related to property damage and maintenance could be attributed to the department’s new inspection regime, which had allowed for more accurate allocation of tenant liability costs.

Housing Minister Colin Holt said the department dealt with WA’s most financially vulnerable families and individuals so the Government supported its methods of recouping debt owed to the taxpayer.