Property and tenancy

Overview

The property and tenancy business line, Property and Tenancy Services, accepts completed houses from DHA’s Property Provisioning Group. They are responsible for maintaining the homes, presenting properties for allocation, providing support to the Defence member throughout their tenancy and assisting when they vacate at the end of their tenancy. It is the customer-facing side of DHA’s business with approximately 300 staff in regional offices offering these services. This includes day-to-day interactions with current Defence tenants and informing members about housing in their new posting locality. This business also manages the payment of RA to members with and without dependants who will be accommodated in the private rental market.

While the Property Provisioning Group’s focus is on maintaining a supply of houses in response to the DHF (by constructing new houses on DHA-owned land, acquiring existing houses and by renewing leases), Property and Tenancy Services matches the DHA housing portfolio to the demand for those houses as Defence members move on posting, or as their changing personal circumstances affect their housing needs.

Defence Housing Forecast

The DHF is the starting point for the property and tenancy business, as it is for property provisioning. It identifies how many Members With Dependants are expected to need accommodation in the next financial year (and the following four years) in terms of numbers, locations and housing classifications. For 2012–13, Defence forecast a requirement for housing for 19,627 Defence members and their families, a 2.5% increase on 2011–12.

The starting point for the preparation of a new DHF is the total number of Defence families in DHA-managed properties and in RA in the current year. Defence then seeks the best available information from the three Services about changes (the number and rank of personnel) in the establishment of headquarters, formations, units and bases and of changes in force disposition, as a result of the creation of new force elements or changes in location of existing force elements.

The DHF estimates the proportion of Defence members who will require Defence-funded housing (DHA-managed or RA), as distinct from those who will live in their own homes. The accuracy of the DHF, therefore, is affected by matters outside the control of Defence and DHA; such as the state of residential property markets and the availability of bank finance.

Meeting the Defence demand

In allocating housing, Property and Tenancy Services must manage tenanted, vacant and privately leased stock in order to increase the number of Defence families in DHA-managed accommodation. An optimal outcome will maximise the number of available dwellings during the peak posting period, minimise vacancy at other times by leasing vacant stock privately and minimise the number of Defence families receiving RA.

DHA’s online tool, HomeFind, is the main vehicle used by Defence members to view properties they might be eligible to occupy (determined by location, rent band and family composition). DHA is continually upgrading its online system, its capabilities and the quality of the housing data accessible to Defence members.

At 30 June 2013, 82% of the total Defence demand was satisfied by DHA-managed housing with the balance in private rental accommodation. The 2012–13 monthly average of Defence families on RA was 17.95%. One reason is the increase in the proportion of Defence members approved for RA following Service recognition of an interdependent relationship, including de facto relationships. DHA does not have the opportunity to offer its accommodation in these circumstances.

Housing is allocated in accordance with a classification system under which DHA-managed properties are assigned to one of five rent bands set by Defence, in consultation with DHA, and updated annually. Rent bands are determined by geographical location with individual houses assigned to a rent band based on their market rent. The system enables Defence members to access housing in accordance with their ranks and family-based entitlements.

Managing Defence tenancies

Since 1 October 2009, all Defence tenancies have been in the form of an agreement between DHA and the Defence member. Before October 2009, DHA was an agent of Defence, administering tenancies between the Department and the Defence member. The new arrangements continue to work satisfactorily.

Housing Management Centres

Property and Tenancy Services focuses on the ongoing needs of individual Defence families and relies on a DHA workforce spread across 19 regional offices matched to geographical concentrations of Defence units and establishments. Twelve are designated Housing Management Centres (HMCs) and the balance are smaller ‘branch’ offices. At 30 June 2013, Property and Tenancy Services employed approximately 300 people, or about 50% of the DHA workforce, in its regional offices. This staffing provides a physical presence for Defence members seeking advice on housing matters including maintenance. DHA also maintains a sophisticated online service and a 24-hour telephone contact point to manage these needs.

Responsive maintenance

Responsive maintenance is a critical component of property and tenancy management. DHA is contracted to provide a quality 24-hour maintenance service and to deliver high-levels of tenant satisfaction with that service. To assist in achieving this objective, DHA provides a Maintenance Call Centre (MCC) for receiving and taking action on maintenance calls from tenants across Australia. The MCC operates from DHA’s office in the Hunter Valley and provides extended hours coverage. Staff are trained in the policies and procedures that govern the delivery of maintenance services and can support frontline staff by raising work orders during property inspections to speed up the turnaround of properties between tenancies. During 2012–13, the MCC received a total of 130,956 calls and made 166,493 outgoing calls. The MCC raised 49,656 maintenance actions and responded to 7,281 incoming emails from contractors, Defence members, real estate agents and DHA staff.

Contractor management

DHA is responsible to tenants and lessors for the provision of a prompt and high-quality maintenance service, irrespective of location. To achieve this, DHA uses maintenance service providers in each region. Known as Residential Maintenance Services, the arrangements are supported by sophisticated Contractor Management software (CTM) to assist HMCs to manage about 1,000 individual contractors and deliver efficient and timely maintenance support to tenants. In 2012–13, DHA upgraded the CTM software to provide greater functionality and further streamline the allocation of maintenance and the interaction with contract providers. The contract management team that supports DHA regional staff implemented a monthly reporting tool to ensure greater transparency and value for money from panel contractors. The same team has been responsible for implementing control measures to ensure DHA meets its obligations to contractors under the new Work Health and Safety (WHS) legislation.

Maintenance surveys

DHA measures Defence member satisfaction with customer service, contractor service and overall satisfaction with the maintenance service. Performance with completed and invoiced works remains strong, with 95% of 7,064 surveyed tenants expressing satisfaction with the overall service. This result is similar to that in 2011–12. Sample sizes in past years ranged from 7,065 to 7,848.

Figure 3: Customer satisfaction with DHA’s maintenance service, 2008–09 to 2012–13

Services Agreement on Housing and Related Matters

DHA’s relationship with Defence is managed under the provisions of the Services Agreement on Housing and Related Matters (Services Agreement), a long-term agreement that was signed on 1 July 2006. Major elements of the Services Agreement were updated in 2009 to provide for the inclusion of allocations and tenancy management functions, which had previously been contracted under the Relocations Services Agreement. In 2012–13, the Services Agreement was the subject of the first five-year review to address lessons learned since July 2006 and to investigate ways to rationalise and reduce costs to both parties. In a significant milestone, on 17 May 2013, Defence advised its decision to extend the initial 12-year term of the Services Agreement by five years to 1 July 2023. In doing so, Defence acknowledged that DHA was providing value for money and noted with satisfaction that services were being delivered in an efficient and effective manner.