COVID-19 Information

It’s business as usual, just from a distance

Our head office reception has reopened five days a week (see above). The majority of our staff are continuing to work remotely and they’re available by phone or email to assist you.  As always, please contact your Housing or Lodging Coordinator directly with any questions or concerns you may have.  Our reception team can direct your call.

Maintenance requests

We are responding to requests for maintenance as usual.  The contractors we send may ask you if anyone in the household is sick or has recently arrived in WA and choose to come at a later date if that is the case.

Property inspections

As of Tuesday 2nd June, we recommenced property inspections. We have resumed our usual schedule and you will be notified in the usual way. We have produced an Information Sheet to help you prepare for a property inspection during this time.

Here are links to information we have provided tenants via email

24 March Update to Tenants 

17 March Update to Tenants

30 April Update to Tenants

30 April Update to Tenants

Our lodges house a large number of individuals with compromised immune systems who live in close proximity to one another and share communal facilities.  It is vital we keep our residents safe by following effective social distancing and quarantine measures.

Additional cleaning and security patrols are in place to help keep these environments as safe as possible for the people who live there. No new residents will be admitted to our lodges until further notice to reduce the risk of infection. Residents can help by respecting these rules and following hygiene guidelines. We take these issues very seriously as communal living at lodges presents risks that we don’t see at our tenant’s homes. Action will be taken where we see rules being broken.

We are currently not accepting any referrals from agencies for their clients to lodging as we do not know when we will be able to once again begin to allocate rooms.  If you are seeking emergency accommodation please contact Entrypoint on 1800 124 684.

If you are finding yourself in hardship during this time, you can request a rent review. You can do this by calling or emailing your Housing or Lodging Coordinator about your change in circumstances and your concerns.

Neither the $550 a fortnight payment and the one-off payment of $750 will affect how we calculate your rent. However, if you receive the $550 a fortnight payment you will no longer be eligible to receive the Foundation Housing rent subsidy vouchers during this period.

We have prepared an information sheet for tenants which you can download here.

Arrears evictions

The Government recently passed legislation that prohibits landlords from evicting tenants who can’t pay their rent because they have lost income due to the crisis. This legislation is currently in place until 28 March 2021.

The new laws apply to Foundation Housing just as they would a private landlord. We would like to reassure you that we are committed to supporting people to sustain their tenancy without undue stress or pressure during this time. As a community housing provider we set our rents according to your income.  If you have lost work or your income has reduced for other reasons such as loss of hours, we can reassess and reduce your rent based on this reduced income.

Our message has always been the same – if your household has lost income due to the COVID-19 crisis, please contact your Coordinator immediately so we can arrange a rent review. It is very important that you make contact with us. If you simply stop paying your rent and do not make alternative arrangements, you are in breach of your tenancy agreement and at risk of possible eviction.

Whilst the new legislation includes a moratorium on evictions, there are exceptions to this, such as those who:

• Cause property damage or
• Pose a threat to the landlord or neighbours.

Family and domestic violence provisions also remain in effect.

More information about this new legislation is included here:
https://www.commerce.wa.gov.au/consumer-protection/residential-tenancies-covid-19-response

Accessing the Residential Rent Relief Grant Scheme
The State Government is making available grants of four weeks’ rent (up to $2,000) for private tenants who lost their jobs on or after 20 March 2020 and are facing financial hardship due to the COVID-19 crisis.

To be eligible for a grant, you must first have contacted Foundation Housing to request a rent review. If your rent is reduced as a result of that review, you will be required to provide evidence of this as part of your application for the grant. If approved, the grant is payable direct to the landlord.

Further information about the application process and eligibility criteria is available here:
https://www.commerce.wa.gov.au/consumer-protection/residential-rent-relief-grant-scheme

We thank those organisations who work with us to provide our service to our tenants and residents and particularly acknowledge those who are doing so during the COVID-19 crisis.  Where possible we are continuing to provide our service as we normally would.  If you have an enquiry or concern please get in touch with your usual contact at Foundation Housing.  For general enquiries please contact admin@foundationhousing.org.au

Recent updates on our services:

9 April 2020 Easter Update

19 March Message to service providers

A number of organisations and individuals have generously provided support to Foundation Housing tenants and residents during the COVID-19 pandemic through donations of food, prepared meals, furniture and more.  We deeply appreciate the difference these generous actions are making to our tenants and residents during this crisis.  The support we are receiving means a great deal to the people we house demonstrating to them that they belong to a community that cares about them.

Our gratitude goes to the following groups:

• Doorstop Dinners Program Fremantle which includes St Patrick Community Support Centre, Rise Network , Fremantle Chamber of Commerce, United Way WA, CEOs for Gender Equity along with the following restaurants Benny’s, Strange Company, La Sosta, The National Hotel and all their volunteer helpers.
• The Omalas Project
• OzHarvest
• Dale and friends
• Mondo Butchers
• Joyce Foam Products
• Treasured Tots Early Education Centre
• AWB
• GIVIT

If you are experiencing symptoms and have been in contact with someone who has recently travelled overseas, you should contact the Coronavirus Health Information Line on 1800 020 080.

We have listed some links to trusted information sources for you to do some further reading.

• Coronavirus resources(Federal Government Health Department)
• Know the Signs poster
• WA Government Information on Coronavirus
• WA COVID-19 Clinics
• World Health Organisation
• WA Health Resources