Social housing three-strikes policy a step closer The social housing "three strikes" proposal by the state government is a step closer to reality, with the state government in the final stages of piecing the policy together. The private sector will also be expected to play a larger role in the state's new housing policy, with minister Tim Mander anticipating that community housing providers will manage up to 15,000 homes. Under the proposed three-strikes policy, tenants living inside one of the government's 71,500 social homes will be punished for repeated breaches of their tenancy, including deliberate damage to the home or using it as a base for criminal activity. More than $5 million in damage to state housing was reported last year. Between 2008 and 2011, the government issued 103,126 breach notices to tenants for infractions including late rent payments and deliberately damaging the property; 320 households had their leases terminated over the same period. "The overwhelming majority of our tenants give us no trouble whatsoever," Mr Mander said. However there are a small number of people who insist on doing the wrong thing. The proposed three-strikes policy is about restoring accountability to social housing and letting bad tenants know that there are consequences for poor behaviour. Mr Mander said the three-strikes approach would "give housing staff the tools to nip bad behaviour in the bud and put bad tenants on notice before things spiral out of control." "Obviously we don't want to see people become homeless, and I would hope people who have been issued with one or two strikes would take the opportunity to mend their ways," he said. However, we also need to make sure the social housing goes to those who need it most and doesn't simply become a canvas for vandals. The latest figures reveal that just over 23,063 people have registered for social housing. While the government expects to place 96 percent of the 13,296 who fall into the very high and high need categories into housing, the remainder will prove a greater challenge. While once the face of public housing was families on low incomes, the changing times have brought changing needs. Now, those most likely to need a home are overwhelmingly single, dependent on Centrelink and suffering a physical or mental disability. Often they have a long history of homelessness. The Housing and Other Legislation Amendment Bill was passed on March 5. With it comes the groundwork for the National Regulatory Scheme for community housing providers, which Mr Mander calls the "most comprehensive overhaul of social housing policy in decades." The National Regulatory System was an agreement signed on June 2011 by the country's housing ministers with the aim of setting a system of registration, monitoring and regulation of community housing providers. "The simple fact of the matter is that the old ways are no longer sustainable," he said. When the Newman government came to office, the public housing system was losing $140 million a year. My vision is for a number of community housing providers to be capable of managing up to 15,000 dwellings. Currently, the largest community housing provider in Queensland manages fewer than 1500 dwellings while Australia's largest manages only 4000. This is a big change, but a necessary one if we are going to meet the needs of those people currently languishing on the waiting list.