LET THEM SLEEP ON PARK BENCHES IN WINTER

I have come to the conclusion that the Victorian State Government  created the very problem private rooming houses are experiencing today with mental patients causing disruption after being accepted on little information from local welfare agencies into the rooming houses because there is nowhere else to house them after the Kennet Government closed down mental institutions some years ago.   Someone can correct me if i am wrong but this is the best recollection I have in a change of government policy when Jeff Kennett decided to close down institutions and sell off the valuable real estate and also save $millions in wages too.

The welfare agencies have hundreds of patients coming in every day especially this month as we get into the winter season.  Some of these people are very dangerous yet the social workers are secretly keeping the vital safety information from Rooming House landlords and thereby risking the security and welafre of many other people in their enthusiasm to assist the homeless.

Who is to blame for this sorry state of affairs. ??

We cant blame the government for the mental health issues of its citizens, but we can blame the government who previously had accepted the responsibility to look after such people in mental institutions but then decided to close them down because of the high cost involved.

The worst aspect of this goverment policy change has been the systematic transfer of the blame onto the private rooming house operators who have and continue to be tricked by social workers backed by government policy operatives to try to intergrate these people back into society without any real who success but are also either knowingly or unknowingly not only perpertrating a crime of deceit but also are conspiring with the government to blame the private operators for them alledgedly preying on these vunerable people we dont really want. 

We dont not have the facilities or staff to house these seriously mentally ill people. We only provide rooms for able bodied people who can behave and look after their own cooking washing etc in a community of other similar type people. We charge a reasonable charge which covers rental and utilities, central heating and cleaning of common areas. We are unable to employ staff to police or manage mentally ill people ....that is the role of the mental health wards of hospitals and other medical professionals.

The local welfare agencies have a different role to ours...they want to house everyone that goes through their doors every day and will do all they can to provide shelter for such people even if it means lying to landlords just to get them off their books. Some of their clients are evicted often from their placement houses due to their behavioural problems and their inability to live with other people harmoniously, yet the social workers keep trying over and over again sometimes every few weeks knowing they wont last long.

From my experience most of these people suffer from various mental health issues some self inflicted and some genetic for lack of a better explanation. Some display symptoms of criminal insanity or just bad behaviour cause by use of various illicit drugs over several years or alcoholism which is another reason for mental instability which make this class of potential tenant unsuitable for communal living. Many of these people have no family who are prepared to provide accommodation ...they are basically rejects of both their family, friends and society generally. There is usually very good reasons why no one wants to live with them and in my view they should not be  assisted with deceit by government or social workers by putting other people's security at further risk.

I have come to the conclusion that they need to learn by experiencing a cold winter sleeping on the streets,,,maybe the only way they might learn to conform to basic norms for living in small communities in Rooming Houses. If they wont conform...then expect to live on a park bench.  You might think that a bit harsh...however you might come to the same conclusion if you had my experience dealing with these people over the years.

Of course as I often suggest...the social workers themselves or the politicians who make the silly rules like a house with 4 people or more is regarded as a Rooming House with a string of regulations to comply with....that they.might like to offer their own houses and families to provide housing and comforts for these street wise thieves, criminals and nut cases.

After making my 20 page submission to the inquiry into Rooming Houses recently carried out by the Human Services Dept, i am rather dissapointed on the lack of action from them and the Liberal Party who have have been too lazy by not overturning the secret police Gestapo spy type regulations brought in by the previous government of using Consumer Affairs and councils to enforce the 4 people rule. This could technically result in a two bedroom unit could be designated as a Rooming House. I  believe the rule should be raised to a 7 people two storey houses.

Im even annoyed that those businesses who pay for insurance have had their Fire Levies increased from 50% to now 82% so that 50% of all insurance premiums are for Fire Ley, Stamp Duty and GST.This a big impost for small or large businesses to have to put up with.  Why should the people who pay for insurance be the only ones to have to pay for fire protection and not other people who dont pay for insurance? The Labour Party idea of putting a smaller levy on all properties was a much better idea but I have my doubts that the lazy Socialist Liberal Party will change anything there either.

Anyway after a long period without a laptop, I've now got a new cheap laptop so i can start writing and complaining again when i have time and enthusiasm.

I AM RETIRING FROM PROVIDING ACCOMMODATION TO THE GENERAL HOMELESS

Due to a recent encounter with a VCAT adjudicator and his determination based on the claimant providing incorrect information about the conditions under which I was providing accommodation to the claimant and because VCAT found against me due to the use of 'a faulty old law' with a financial penalty and due to other recent events whereby social workers continue to refer serious and dangerously mentally ill patients to us without providing warnings, I have decided not to to continue to increase the number of places for the homeless sector of the community. I shall continue to house those which I already provide accommodation for and who continue to abide by my House Rules and who pay an appropriate rental including the increasing costs of utilities, however I through my delegates will no longer accept just anyone without first receiving more verifiable information about applicants mental and personality status.

I believe that as the laws currently stand and without any positive feedback from the DHS Inquiry into Rooming Houses and without seeing any light at the end of the draconian tunnel, I intend to cease all projects which would have expanded the provision of the 'defined homeless sector' of the community.   

The treatment I received at the hands of the VCAT Hearing system was totally unjust and inexcusable from persons of such assumed legal standing. Accordingly, if the system cannot respect the role I have been playing in the provision of accommodation for the Homeless; then I do not wish to be in it any more.

The government and the powers that be can attend to those increasing tasks in the future using their tax money and taking the inherent risks using their personal organisational skills.   I no longer intend to fall prey to persons claiming to be cold and needing a warm safe place [for him & his dog] because they were living in their freezing car during winter as the claimant claimed as [nobody wanted them] and then went on to make a claim for compensation against me with the assistance of the Tenants Union. I have no intention to allowing myself to become a legal punching bag as the Late Frank Cassar endured at the hands of lying thieving tenants and unions.

I shall instead intend to expand into providing accommodation for the Tourist Sector of the market if the opportunity arises and the Planning system does not make it too onerous for me also. 

LEFT WING SOCIALIST LAWYERS CAUSE MORE HOMELESSNESS

I also raise this matter here because too many Local Government local By-laws Officers are using the State Coroners Findings in the case of Brunswick Backpacker fire as a
valid reason to shut down and/or issue penalty notices against as many operators
as possible because the Officers are so seriously concerned and led to believe that
they personally will be held legally responsible for the obligations which has been foisted onto Councils by the previous State Government.

In my opinion  Ground level accommodation with easy window escape should not be treated in the same manner as double storey buildings, however if fire safety on ground level is not safe then the only other fire safe accommodation would be fireproof canvas tents without lockable doors. Whilst you may conclude that I am being sarcastic, some welfare agencies have been actually resorting to offering tents to difficult tenants who turn up time and time again for assistance as they cannot get on with anyone in any of the placements.

I do not go out of my way visiting other rooming houses to get ideas of how others choose to operate, and thus I am not familiar with the standards offered by other
rooming houses. For this reason I cannot denigrate the decisions made by the
By-Laws Officers to close the houses down, however some of the reasons for the
poor state of cleanliness are caused by the occupants themselves some of which
are keen to benefit from tactical media hype which delivers them faster
assistance into public housing. However, usually it’s just really a case of
selection the wrong combination of people and not enforcing strict HOUSE RULES
in relation to house, room and personal hygiene.

The business of providing accommodation to numbers of single homeless people in one multi room property should not be regarded or treated as a terrible criminal offence which is the message DHS are already sending out from their Departmental Media Releases which state the intention to increase fines for non-compliance? For god’s sake ...are you real? There are enough examples of where operators are automatically vilified by some of the Left wing extremist political groups using the tabloid media as their voice and who consider the only good accommodation is that which is provided by the State or a charity.  

I will not name these other groups in this statement; however these political or hardline ideological statements are not helpful if the end result is to encourage more investors to provide new accommodation stock for homeless singles. If the State Government wishes to scare potential investors and operators, I can help very quickly and easily do the work for you in my blog and shut down the industry in no time at all.
Maybe it is the result of a State hell bent on taking advice from consultants who only listen to the tenants who want everything for nothing, [Free Government Pensions & benefits, Free Rent and free food from Charities] and consultants who have never lived in any Rooming House.

LIBERAL PARTY WANTS REAL ESTATE AGENTS TO BECOME KGB SPIES ON LANDLORDS WHO DARE TO OFFER ROOMS TO UNRELATED HOMESLESS.- A DISGRACE IN POLICY DEVELOPMENT ? OR LAZY POLICTICS ?

I totally object to LIBERAL PARTY government proposals to require real estate agents to be used like KGB Spies to locate unregistered rooming houses who dare to provide housing for people. 

If an agent observes evidence consistent with occupation of the building by a number of people, rather than the individual, couple or family otherwise identified as lessees, this may provide grounds for a reasonable belief. Examples of this kind of evidence are set out below.

What constitutes evidence of rooming house activity?

There are certain physical signs that may indicate that the building is being used as a rooming house. These may include:

• a large number of residents using the building
• the interior of the building has been changed in a manner consistent with multiple occupation and not envisaged by the lease (e.g. informal, ad hoc building works such as plywood dividing a room into two)
• locks or numbers on bedroom doors
• evidence of a high level of usage of facilities such as kitchens and toilets supported by high water, electricity and gas bills for the building
• a high level of usage of facilities that seem to be inconsistent with the usage envisaged by the lease
• high levels of rubbish and recyclables
• multiple vehicles parked on or off the street
• lots of mail addressed to different people
• multiple individual toiletries stored in bedrooms rather than bathroom
• lessee not living on site
• no communal area
• cooking appliances and fridges in bedrooms
• televisions, kettles, games consoles etc. in bedrooms but not in communal areas
• advertisements of rooms to let
• notices on display (e.g. of where to pay rent, to keep areas clean, etc.)
• caravans or sheds converted into bedrooms
• many mattresses on the premises.

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Excessive compliance costs and the constant media announcements of threats of heavy fines for ‘rogue’ or ‘unscrupulous’ landlords will only have the effect of reducing the number of operators prepared to offer such accommodation and result in the responsibility falling totally on the State Government to provide such facilities. Regulators sometimes forget who is at the coalface at keeping most of the homeless people from sleeping under bridges. 

Operators are just not renting out rooms and collecting the rent like a normal rental property; they need to deal with the various personalities and dynamics of the group living under the one roof.  Good operators are not offering or qualified to be social workers or mental health professionals which however invariably they become involved in providing are holistic services not originally factored into the rental return equation. For this very reason, many banks will not fund such investments resulting in higher funding costs. When one factors the higher responsibility, outgoing expenses and excessive time required to manage these group accommodation facilities; the high profits claims are not just correct. Even some of the operators themselves may be looking for a getting out opportunity which some Council actions actually helps to give them an excuse to close down.

Though some Council staff claim that many owners are just using the homes as Rooming Houses temporarily for when they can go ahead and re-develop the land into a higher use value; unfortunately the councils appear to be speeding up the closure process by annoying the operators?

POLITICAL DIPLOMACY

Politicians and their policy makers have all the answers when they are trying to get votes, but some of their statements of solutions are just not sound economics. I will touch on some economic realities and welcome debate from students and politicians too in my future blog.

LANDLORDS POINT OF VIEW

Being a rooming house operator is a tough business because everyone views the operator as greedy, unprofessional or often viewed on TV tabloid news and current affairs as offering unhealthy accommodation with tenants constantly complaining about the mess or mould.

Most operators are vilified without any real reason except it makes good tabloid media. How would you like to be named as greedy, unscrupulous, rogue landlord taking advantage of the desperate, disadvantaged, vulnerable and disenfranchised poor homeless? All words devised to belittle the endeavour of those who for whatever reason are in the commercial business of managing accommodation for customers who most have many choices where they choose to reside, if only they could learn to live with others harmoniously with their family and friends  or pay their rent elsewhere,.

Now put yourself in the shoes of an operator...well most of you would not bother ...and if you would not...who would bother to house the homeless when everyone in the media, the charities complain about record numbers of people sleeping in the streets, on park benches, in cardboard boxes, under trees etc.

Will you consider making your spare room available for other families rejects? What are the real risks of renting out a room to a stranger? [Remember recent case of a serious assault of a female Good Samaritan who provided a bungalow free of charge to a homeless guy]  Is it a good financial decision to rent out a spare room or bungalow? What are some of the solutions and options avail now to increase the number of rooms for the homeless fast? These and many more questions will be attempted to be answered in my future blog. I won’t be pulling any punches, I might protect the not so innocent by not using their real names, but my blog will tell it as it is in my several years experience. But most of the diplomatic comments will be reserved for this submission.

I had the benefit of 10 years experience as a Trust Officer/Manager with the Public/State Trustees, so dealing with such clients was an easier fit for me personally when I started in the crisis accommodation business by accident some years ago in Dandenong when contacted by Hanover Welfare Services seeking Crisis accommodation for homeless families. Now I deal with most of Melbourne's Welfare agencies and ANCHOR COMMUNITY WELFARE & COMMUNITY HOUSING of Box Hill on a daily basis and try to assist when we can. Maroondah Hospital is also having problems placing Psychiatric ward patients in suitably supervised accommodation, so they can free up their beds for other emergency mental health in-patients. 

Thank you for reading this part of a lengthy 20 page expose of life as a Rooming House operator from the point of view of an operator who cares and I hope the readers are mindful of the various issues I have raised in their deliberations when framing legislation designed to protect stakeholders.

Kind Regards

Gilbert - Director

GILLYS ROOMS

GUARDIAN ESTATES PTY.LTD

Operators of NORRIS LODGE - LILYDALE

C/- 97 Napier Street,

St Arnaud Vic 3478

0407855224

Guardian Estates Pty Ltd has many year experience in the management of Rooming Houses using best practice techniques and we are now offering to share our expertise with new rooming house property stakeholders, government departments and agencies or others experiencing difficulties in management. We are able to prepare reports on how to improve management of both public and private group accommodation facilities. Email: gillysrooms@hotmail.com