Social Housing Provider
Operational Guidelines
for Community Housing Providers
Release date:
Social Housing Provider Operational Guidelines for Community Housing Providers
February 2017
Contents
Introduction ................................................................................... 1
Community Housing Provider Operational Guidelines ........................ 1
Reviewing the Guidelines .............................................................. 1
Definitions .................................................................................. 1
Aim of social housing ....................................................................... 2
Social Housing Reform Programme ................................................ 2
Your roles and responsibilities ......................................................... 3
Business Online Services .................................................................. 3
Compliance .................................................................................... 4
Expectations of the social housing provider ..................................... 4
Compliance requirements: Ministry of Social Development ................ 4
Market rent setting ...................................................................... 4
Statement of Satisfactory Tenancy ................................................ 4
Information sharing ..................................................................... 4
Access to information ................................................................... 5
When client information is recorded incorrectly ............................... 5
Referral information ..................................................................... 5
Storage and security of information ............................................... 5
Disposing of information ............................................................... 6
Compliance requirements: Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment
................................................................................................. 6
Community Housing Regulatory Authority....................................... 6
Residential Tenancies Act 1986 ..................................................... 6
Working with the Ministry of Social Development ............................... 7
Social Housing National Contracts .................................................. 7
Centralised Unit Housing .............................................................. 7
Continuity Plans.............................................................................. 8
Ministry business continuity plan ................................................... 8
Provider business continuity plan ................................................... 8
Business Online Services .................................................................. 8
RealMe login ............................................................................... 9
Setting up providers and users in Business Online Services ............... 9
System time out ........................................................................ 10
Creating a vacancy ..........................................................................11
Approving the market rent rate ................................................... 11
Social Housing Provider Operational Guidelines for Community Housing Providers
Market rent rate is declined ........................................................ 11
Vacancy Approved ..................................................................... 11
Shortlisted Applicants ....................................................................12
Risk information provided by the Ministry ..................................... 12
Child sex offenders .................................................................... 13
Child Sex Offender Matched to a Property ..................................... 13
Providing Risk Information to the Ministry ..................................... 13
Making a property offer ..................................................................13
Contacting the client .................................................................. 13
Agents and advocates ................................................................ 14
Timeframe for client to make their decision ................................... 14
Outcome of property offer .......................................................... 14
Financial assistance required....................................................... 15
Client declines property offer ...................................................... 15
Property offer is withdrawn ......................................................... 15
Financial assistance........................................................................16
Supporting the client to apply for financial assistance ..................... 16
Redirection of benefit ................................................................. 17
Client is now a tenant......................................................................18
Tenancy agreement ................................................................... 18
Tenant breaches responsibilities .................................................. 18
Tenant makes contact with the Ministry........................................ 19
Changes in circumstances ........................................................... 19
Income-related rent........................................................................19
Income-Related Rent Subsidy ..................................................... 19
Rent effective dates ................................................................... 20
Changes to Income-Related Rent Subsidy ..........................................22
Changes in circumstances ........................................................... 22
Non notified changes of circumstances ......................................... 24
Backdating income-related rent decreases and refunds .................. 25
Debt management ..................................................................... 25
Tenant annual reviews ....................................................................26
Incomplete annual reviews ......................................................... 26
Notification of changes to income-related rent for the tenant .......... 26
Market rent rates ...........................................................................27
Setting the market rent rate ....................................................... 27
Approving market rent rates ....................................................... 27
Declining market rent rates......................................................... 27
Market rent decreases ................................................................ 27
Ending the subsidy .................................................................... 28
Social Housing Provider Operational Guidelines for Community Housing Providers
Transfers ......................................................................................28
Client initiated transfers ............................................................. 28
Business initiated transfers ......................................................... 28
Transfers within your own housing stock ...................................... 28
Provider to provider transfers ...................................................... 28
Changes in property ownership ................................................... 29
Join-ins .........................................................................................29
Joining a tenancy....................................................................... 29
Change in number of tenants ...................................................... 30
Tenancy Reviews ............................................................................30
Ending a tenancy ............................................................................32
Exit all tenants and Outcome Agreement ...................................... 33
Fraud investigations .......................................................................33
Identifying suspected housing fraud ............................................. 33
Informing the Ministry of suspected housing fraud ......................... 33
Process to investigate ................................................................ 34
Outcome of investigation ............................................................ 34
Prosecutions ............................................................................. 34
Vulnerable children and families .....................................................34
Child abuse ............................................................................... 35
Family violence ......................................................................... 35
Complaints and Reviews of Decision.................................................36
Review of decision ..................................................................... 36
Complaints about the Ministry ..................................................... 36
Complaints about social housing providers .................................... 37
Responding to information requests ............................................. 37
Risk and issues management ...........................................................38
Receiving and resolving .............................................................. 38
Appendix One - Definitions..............................................................39
Appendix Two – Typical characteristics of Dwelling Types ..................43
Appendix Three – Ministry’s Business Continuity Plan .......................44
Business continuity process ........................................................ 44
ShareFile .................................................................................. 44
Iron key process ........................................................................ 44
Appendix Four – Screening and assessment ......................................46
Introduction .............................................................................. 46
Housing website ........................................................................ 46
Ministry contact centres and general enquiries lines ....................... 46
Work and Income service centres and Community Link offices ........ 46
Housing seminars ...................................................................... 47
Social Housing Provider Operational Guidelines for Community Housing Providers
Eligibility .................................................................................. 47
Screening ................................................................................. 47
Potentially eligible ..................................................................... 48
Not eligible due to income/assets or unlikely to be eligible .............. 48
No screening required – Youth Service ......................................... 48
Assessments ............................................................................. 48
Appointment standards .............................................................. 49
Completing the assessment ........................................................ 49
Outcome of the assessment ........................................................ 50
Identified as eligible ................................................................... 50
Identified as not eligible ............................................................. 50
Assessment summary ................................................................ 50
Incomplete assessments ............................................................ 50
Emergency housing (interim need) .............................................. 50
Social Housing Register .............................................................. 51
Changes in circumstances........................................................... 51
Removing clients from the social housing register .......................... 51
Reinstating clients to the social housing register ............................ 51
Exception ................................................................................. 52
Rheumatic fever fast-track ......................................................... 52
Criteria for rheumatic fever fast-track .......................................... 52
List of District Health Boards ....................................................... 52
Property offers .......................................................................... 53
Appendix Five – Client has a change in circumstances prior to becoming a
tenant ...........................................................................................54
Prior to becoming a tenant.......................................................... 54
Reviewing changes (prior to the client becoming a tenant) ............. 54
Other circumstances .................................................................. 55
Absence from New Zealand......................................................... 56
Short-term changes ................................................................... 56
Death of a client ........................................................................ 56
Client is now a tenant ................................................................ 56
Appendix Six – Placement Process ...................................................57
Appendix Seven – Restrictions on file attachments.............................58
Appendix Eight – Key contacts .........................................................59
Appendix Nine – Password rules ......................................................62
Appendix Ten – Reporting suspected fraud .......................................63
Appendix Eleven – Business Online Services templates ......................64
Social Housing Provider Operational Guidelines for Community Housing Providers
Appendix Twelve – Key steps in responding to privacy breaches ..........69
Social Housing Provider Operational Guidelines for Community Housing Providers
Introduction
Community Housing Provider Operational Guidelines
The Community Housing Provider Operational Guidelines (guidelines) are issued by the
Ministry of Social Development (Ministry) and replace the Social Housing Provider
Operational Guidelines issued in December 2016.
The guidelines show the agreed business processes, administrative functions and
interaction between you and the Ministry.
These guidelines take effect immediately and form part of your Outcome Agreement with
the Ministry; they are reviewable and can be amended at any time without materially
affecting the Outcome Agreement.
These guidelines must be used to assist you in meeting your Outcome Agreement
requirements as a contracted community housing provider.
Reviewing the Guidelines
To request a review of the guidelines, you must submit in writing to the General
Manager (Housing) for the Ministry of Social Development.
These guidelines apply to contracted community housing providers who have a SPOT
contract with the Ministry; therefore the Ministry will consider any request where
practical. The decision to amend any part of these guidelines remains at the discretion of
the Ministry.
Definitions
Refer to Appendix One for the definitions of terms that are used throughout these
Guidelines.
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Aim of social housing
Social Housing Reform Programme
The Social Housing Reform Programme (SHRP) will increase the supply of social housing
in New Zealand. It builds on a number of measures taken over recent years to provide
more New Zealanders in need with quality and affordable housing. The key objectives of
the programme are:
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ensure social housing is the right design and size, and in the right place for
people who need it
increase affordable housing supply
ensure people who need housing support can get it and receive social services
that meet their needs
encourage and develop more diverse ownership of social housing, with more
innovation and responsiveness to tenants and communities
help social housing tenants to independence, as appropriate.
All clients must meet specific criteria, complete preliminary screening and assessment
and be identified as being at risk or having a serious housing need to be eligible for
social housing. More information about how a person can apply or test their eligibility for
social housing is detailed in Appendix Four.
For more information about Social Housing Reform please visit the Social Housing
Reform Programme website at socialhousing.govt.nz, MSD’s housing website at
www.housing.msd.govt.nz and MBIE’s website at mbie.govt.nz/what-wedo/housing/social-housing-reform.
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Your roles and responsibilities
Your key roles and responsibilities are:
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matching eligible clients to suitable properties
arranging property viewings for clients and, where appropriate, making property
offers
informing the Ministry of all property offers
informing the Ministry of client’s responses to property offers, including the rationale
the client has given for any declines
advising the Ministry when no property offer is made
making arrangements for clients to sign up for a tenancy agreement, informing them
of their responsibilities as a tenant and notifying the Ministry of the start date of their
tenancy
maintaining properties in a reasonable condition and ensuring they comply with all
building, health and safety standards applicable to the property
undertaking tenancy management practices and asset functions
notifying if a tenancy is terminated
informing the Ministry of any suspected client accommodation or benefit related fraud
working with the Centralised Unit Housing to resolve any issues at an operational
level if and as they arise, and where necessary escalating to the appropriate person
(please refer to Appendix Eight for contact details).
Business Online Services
Business Online Services has automated many processes that were previously completed
manually. You are required to use Business Online Services, to:
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load your vacancies
maintain vacancy information
request referrals
update market rent
maintain tenancy details
Business Online Services will also enable you to:
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receive automatically generated shortlists
base your invoicing on the IRRS fortnightly schedules created via Business Online
Services.
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Compliance
Expectations of the social housing provider
As a Ministry-contracted community housing provider you must comply with specific
standards as set out by the Ministry and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and
Employment (MBIE).
Compliance requirements: Ministry of Social Development
Market rent setting
You will be required to retain or develop a market rent setting process to receive the
Income Related Rent Subsidy. The Ministry may at any time request from you the
calculation and process followed to determine the market rent rates supplied.
Statement of Satisfactory Tenancy
Where requested it is expected that you will provide a tenant with Statement of
Satisfactory Tenancy in writing. Existing social housing tenants who are looking for
alternative accommodation may find the Statement of Satisfactory Tenancy helpful.
This statement addresses a prospective landlord’s main concerns about rent payments,
damages and tenant behaviour.
A link to a factsheet about the Statement of Satisfactory Tenancy is available on the
Ministry’s housing website at
http://housing.msd.govt.nz/documents/forms/factsheets/products/satisfactory-tenancystatement.pdf.
Information sharing
You must comply with the Privacy Act 1993 when collecting, storing, using and disclosing
client information.
Note: the only approved mechanism to securely exchange any client information
between you and the Ministry is by use of the Business Online Services application (from
10 August 2015); ShareFile and Iron Key can be used when enacting Business Continuity
Process. This does not prevent telephone contact for escalations when required.
Where you believe there has been a breach of the Privacy Act 1993, such as
unauthorised access to or use of client information, you must notify the National
Manager Contacts immediately.
No client information (including their MSD nine-digit number) is to be shared or sent
via email, fax, post, courier or in person between you and the Ministry.
For urgent enquiries or for clients who are not on the social housing register, send an
email to the Centralised Unit Housing to contact you if you need more information.
If you need to exchange client information (including screenshots), please use Business
Online Services ‘Create Task’ to send information.
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Access to information
The Ministry will only share relevant client information with you for the purpose of
carrying out social housing related tasks, such as referrals, placements and changes to
income-related rent. The information must only be used for this purpose. Client
information must not be accessed by anyone without the appropriate authority to do so.
If you receive a client’s personal information and recognise that the client is known or
related to you, it is the Ministry’s expectation that you will cease work on that file and
inform your manager immediately. It is expected that your organisation has internal
processes to manage any conflicts of interest appropriately as they arise.
When client information is recorded incorrectly
If a client informs you that information you hold about them is recorded incorrectly, you
will need to correct the information or attach a statement stating what correction was
sought by the client in their records. Please advise the client to contact the Ministry if
they wish to have that information corrected in the Ministry’s records.
If any changes affect the client’s eligibility for social housing or income-related rent, the
Centralised Unit Housing will contact you to advise of this through Business Online
Services.
Referral information
The Ministry’s system will generate a shortlist of applications from the social housing
register following approval of a vacancy notification. All clients will have a unique nine
digit Client Number. This can only be used to identify a client by the Ministry.
You must not use the Ministry Client Number for any of your own purposes, for example
using the Client Number as a tenancy reference number.
A client’s personal information must not be shared with subsidiaries of your organisation,
affiliates, other organisations or individuals, verbally or in writing (including electronic
mail), unless an exception under Principle 11 of the Privacy Act 1993 applies.
Storage and security of information
If you need to store client’s personal information provided by the Ministry, you must
ensure that the information is safeguarded against:
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loss
unauthorised access, use, modification or disclosure and
other misuse.
When storing client information electronically you must ensure that all access to your
network and any Ministry client information is password protected. Your organisation
must have in place processes to mitigate the risk of unapproved access, including
regular password protection updates. Each of your users must have a separate account,
passwords are not to be shared and must conform to NZISM 2015 complexity rules.
Please refer to Appendix Nine for more information.
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When a Business Online Services user leaves your organisation you will need to deprovision their Business Online Services account, or contact the Ministry to action this on
your behalf. When not in use, physical copies of clients’ personal information records and
documents must be kept in a locked storage receptacle.
Please refer to Appendix Twelve for more information about responding to privacy
breaches.
Disposing of information
You must not keep clients’ personal information provided by the Ministry for any period
longer than needed and only for the purpose it was provided. When disposing of clients’
personal information you must take all reasonable steps to safeguard against
interception, misuse and disclosure.
Clients’ personal information must be disposed of in one of the following ways:
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hard copies must be destroyed by you in a secure destruction/ shredding bin (not a
regular bin) or by a document destruction agency
electronic documents must be deleted permanently.
Compliance requirements: Ministry of Business, Innovation and
Employment
Community Housing Regulatory Authority
You will adhere to the Performance Standards as set out by the Community Housing
Regulatory Authority (CHRA). The Performance Standards form part of the Regulatory
Framework for provision of social housing services to ensure clients are appropriately
housed and have stability of tenure.
For information about CHRA go to www.shu.govt.nz/chra-home/.
Residential Tenancies Act 1986
You will ensure that all tenancy arrangements for social housing clients comply with the
Residential Tenancies Act 1986.
Information for landlords and tenants is available on MBIE’s website at
http://www.tenancy.govt.nz/
Housing Restructuring and Tenancy Matters Act 1992
You must also comply with the Housing Restructuring and Tenancy Matters Act 1992.
This is the legislation that governs the provision of social housing by community housing
providers (as well as Housing New Zealand) and allows for the Income-Related Rent
Subsidy to be paid to registered community housing providers.
Social Housing Provider Operational Guidelines for Community Housing Providers
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Working with the Ministry of Social Development
The Ministry has a number of business units and individuals who will work closely with
you, as clients move from the social housing register into social housing properties.
The key Ministry business units you will be working with on a day-to-day basis are:
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Social Housing National Contracts
Centralised Unit Housing
your local Work and Income Regional Office.
There may be times where other Ministry business units become involved in working
with you, for example the Regional Fraud Investigation Unit or a Case Manager
(Housing) based in a local Work and Income office.
Social Housing National Contracts
The Social Housing National Contracts business unit is based in the Ministry’s National
Office in Wellington.
Your main contact is the General Manager Advisor (Contracts), whose role is to:
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approve or decline property vacancies
approve market rent changes
purchase social housing services for clients on the Ministry’s social housing register
provide contract and relationship management
report and monitor a social housing provider’s performance and outcomes
process invoices and payments of Income-Related Rent Subsidy to a contracted
social housing provider
promote social housing to key stakeholders and engage with the wider housing sector
work with you to resolve any issues as they arise, and where appropriate escalate to
the National Manager Contracts.
Please refer to Appendix Eight for contact details.
Centralised Unit Housing
The Centralised Unit Housing has a team of staff assigned to work with clients, Work and
Income frontline staff and you.
This team is based in Auckland and they are your key contacts in the day-to-day
administration of all social housing related functions.
They are your first port of call from the time a client is matched from the social housing
register to the time they enter a tenancy with your service.
The Centralised Unit Housing is responsible for:
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receiving and responding to enquiries related to social housing
managing social housing applications and phone assessments (where applicable)
income-related rent calculations, and reassessments
actively and effectively managing the housing register, including assisting people into
an alternative housing market solution
updating changes to a client’s circumstances (for both current tenancies and clients
on the social housing register
Social Housing Provider Operational Guidelines for Community Housing Providers
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providing advice on using Business Online Services (between 9am and 5pm
weekdays)
working with you to resolve any issues at an operational level as they arise, and
where appropriate escalate to the General Manager (Housing). Please refer to
Appendix Eight for contact details.
The Centralised Unit Housing hours of business are 7.00am to 6.00pm, Monday to
Friday.
Continuity Plans
Ministry business continuity plan
In the event that the Business Online Services application is unavailable, the exchange
of client information will revert to ShareFile in the first instance or by the Iron Key
process as described in Appendix Three.
The Centralised Unit Housing will notify you if you need to use ShareFile or the Iron Key
process. Note: you can only use the ShareFile or Iron Key process when approved by the
Centralised Unit Housing.
Please refer to Appendix Two for more information.
Provider business continuity plan
You must have a current business continuity plan that clearly details your capacity to
deliver services when your IT system/network is unavailable or in the event of an
emergency. This must be available for the Ministry to review on request.
Your plan should include:
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resource gaps and plans to cover these
any support you require to cover the period of emergency management
agreement on who is best placed to contact your tenants and method of
communication
agreement on how your clients are to be managed through the delay or emergency.
Business Online Services
Business Online Services is the IT application you must use to exchange client, property
and tenancy information with the Ministry. ShareFile will only be used as a back-up for
Business Online Services.
The process to use Business Online Services is described in the following pages of this
document. A user guide is also available to support your use of the application:
www.housing.msd.govt.nz/information-for-housing-providers/irrs-tenancies
Social Housing Provider Operational Guidelines for Community Housing Providers
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As well as being able to list and maintain vacancies, you are able to send information
and enquiries via Business Online Services, including uploading forms. Please refer to
Appendix Seven for restrictions on file attachments.
We have included some templates in Appendix Eleven for you to use to ensure you
include all the necessary information when contacting the Ministry.
You will sign into the Business Online Services application with a RealMe account. The
RealMe service meets strict guidelines to ensure privacy and security of information.
Business Online Services is available from 7am to 6pm weekdays. It may also be
available outside of these times, however these are the core hours.
RealMe login
Please refer to the User Guide for instructions on how to set up your RealMe login.
Your organisation may choose to have more than one user for Business Online Services.
In this case your administrator will be able to give staff members access to the system.
Each staff member will be required to create a separate RealMe login.
It is recommended that each user have one RealMe login for all services that use
RealMe. This means users only need to remember one user name and password.
However users may elect to have more than one RealMe login to separate work and
personal needs.
Note: For security reasons you must not share RealMe logins between staff.
If you have any queries or issues related to your RealMe login you should contact the
Ministry’s Online Services Team.
Any queries or issues related to the Business Online Services application should be made
via email to the Centralised Unit Housing. Please do not include any client
information in your email. Your email is to request a phone call to provide you with
advice on using Business Online Services.
Please refer to Appendix Eight for contact details for the Online Services Team and
Centralised Unit Housing.
Setting up providers and users in Business Online Services
The Contracts team create an account for you in Business Online Services. You are then
able to log into RealMe and set up your user accounts in Business Online Services. Please
refer to the Business Online Services User Guide for more information.
Social Housing Provider Operational Guidelines for Community Housing Providers
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System time out
Business Online Services will time out after fifteen minutes without activity:
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the window shown above advises you of the time out
any data you have entered without completing your action will not be saved and
you will have to log in again.
Social Housing Provider Operational Guidelines for Community Housing Providers
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Creating a vacancy
When you have a property vacancy that is suitable for social housing applicants, you will
use the Business Online Services application to list the vacancy.
You are able to specify a client that you are already working with if you have a specific
client in mind, however the client would need to be on the register to be matched to
your vacancy. You will need to supply the client’s name and either date of birth or client
number, plus your reason for specifying the client.
You will also need to provide information on the property i.e. age of build and special
characteristics (if any) for the first part of the vacancy lodgement.
For definitions of the different ‘Dwelling Types’ please refer to Appendix Two to get
guidance on selecting the correct property type for your vacancy lodgement.
For a step by step guide on how to complete the vacancy notification process, please see
the Business Online Services User Guide.
For a step by step diagram on how to create a vacancy, view shortlist and secure the
tenancy please refer to the Placement Process Diagram in Appendix Six.
Approving the market rent rate
The market rent rate for the property must be approved before a shortlist of clients can
be provided to you via Business Online Services.
The Social Housing National Contracts team is responsible for reviewing vacancy
notifications, checking the market rent is acceptable, and managing the approval/decline
process of the market rent rate. Contracts has 48 hours to approve or decline the
vacancy or request further information where required. Occasionally you may be
requested to provide an Independent Market rent valuation report for your vacancy
lodgement. A contracts team member will contact you to advise you for this to be
provided. Approval of the market rent rate will be confirmed via a notification through
Business Online Services.
For more information about acceptable market rent rates, please go to page 27.
Market rent rate is declined
If the market rent is declined, the General Manager Advisor (Contracts) will contact you
by telephone to discuss the reason(s). You will also receive a notification through
Business Online Services, confirming this decision.
Vacancy Approved
Once the vacancy has been approved you will be notified via Business Online Services.
The system will then automatically generate a shortlist of up to 30 suitable clients plus
one ‘identified suitable client’ (a client you may already be working with who is suitable
for your vacancy) if applicable.
Social Housing Provider Operational Guidelines for Community Housing Providers
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Shortlisted Applicants
A shortlist of suitable applicants will be generated based on the property profile and
specified in the vacancy. If you have specified an ‘identified suitable client’ who is on the
register they will also be listed.
Clients will be matched to a vacancy if it has the correct number of bedrooms for the
household’s needs (plus or minus one bedroom), and is in one of the client’s preferred
letting areas (clients are required to select three).
The information provided to you at the shortlist stage will enable you to determine
whether or not they are a potential match to your vacancy but will not include contact
details; these will only be provided once a referral has been approved.
It is important that you request a referral for one client at a time, as clients are removed
from the register when a referral is requested (and cannot be matched to other
vacancies). You also need to update the status of any clients for whom you requested a
referral, but decide not to proceed with an offer; this is to ensure that they promptly
return to the register.
No Suitable Applicants
If the applicants on the shortlist provided do not match to your vacancy, you will be able
to select ‘unsuitable’ beside one or more of them. You are then able to refresh the
shortlist which will remove any unsuitable applicants from the shortlist and replace them
with new applicants. This process can be repeated multiple times.
Requesting a Specific Applicant
In some cases you may request a referral for a specific applicant. You can do this by
updating the vacancy details to add the applicant as an ‘identified suitable client’. An
example of when you might do this is when you are already working with and providing
support for a client who is on the social housing register and whose needs match the
vacancy you have listed. You should ensure that your property is efficiently utilised e.g.
matches the bedroom requirements, plus or minus one bedroom.
Timeframe to match a Suitable Applicant
On receipt of a shortlist of suitable applicants, it is important to identify and match a
preferred applicant within 48 hours. Once you have identified a preferred applicant via
Business Online Services, you will be provided with the applicant’s contact details so that
you can arrange for them to view the property. For detailed information on how to
search for and select a potential tenant for your property vacancy and communicating a
risk indicator, please see the Business Online Services User Guide.
Risk information provided by the Ministry
Risk information covers a number of behaviours such as a person who may have been
abusive or threatening towards staff in the recent past.
If the Ministry holds information about clients in the application who may pose a risk to
you or other tenants’ safety, this will be provided at the shortlist stage.
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Child sex offenders
The Ministry is party to an inter-agency agreement with the Department of Corrections
(Corrections) to share information about child sex offenders. The purpose of the
agreement is to protect the public and reduce the risk of re-offending.
Child sex offenders are defined in the Corrections Act 2004 as people who:
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have been convicted of a relevant offence (defined in the Parole Act 2002)
are subject to release conditions, detention or post detention conditions, supervision
or extended supervision orders.
Child sex offenders are people whose sentences, conditions or supervision have not
ended.
If a shortlisted application contains a child sex offender, this will be indicated in the
information provided.
Child Sex Offender Matched to a Property
If you wish to house a prospective tenant and the person is identified as a child sex
offender Corrections must approve the placement first.
If you wish to proceed with an offer, the Ministry will make the referral to Corrections
when you select ‘Request Referral’.
Corrections will advise the Ministry within 72 hours whether the property is approved or
not.
In some cases, Corrections may need more information about the property, for example
is there a public walkway next to it. In these cases the Ministry will come back to you
with the information request.
Only when the address is approved by Corrections can the applicant be offered and
placed in the property.
Providing Risk Information to the Ministry
There may be times when you identify a risk in relation to a tenant and will need to
notify the Ministry. You will do this via Business Online Services using the risk template
in Appendix Eleven. The process for providing risk information can be found in the BOS
User Guide.
Making a property offer
Contacting the client
When contacting the client you must ensure that you are speaking to the correct person
before continuing the conversation. This is to avoid breaching the client’s privacy.
You are responsible for ensuring that the client:
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receives the housing offer (verbally or in writing)
has an opportunity to view the inside of the property, if requested to assist with
making their final decision
Social Housing Provider Operational Guidelines for Community Housing Providers
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is given 48 hours to make a decision to accept or decline the offer
understands they are required to advise you of their decision within 48 hours and
that non-response to an offer will be treated as a decline
is aware that declining a suitable property offer may affect their eligibility to social
housing.
Agents and advocates
Clients may appoint an agent or advocate to act on their behalf in matters relating to
services provided by the Ministry. In some cases your service may already act as an
agent or advocate for clients who have been assessed with a housing need.
The Ministry requires agents and advocates to complete an Appointment of an Agent
form or an Agent-Extension for MSD Housing form before the Ministry will consider
accepting them as an Agent or Advocate for the client. The Centralised Unit Housing and
Work and Income frontline staff will advise clients these forms need to be completed.
These forms are available on the housing website at
http://housing.msd.govt.nz/forms/index.html.
If you want to act as an agent or advocate on behalf of the client you’ll need to get
permission from the client to talk with us about their situation. There are two ways you
can do this:


for urgent enquiries call us when you have the client with you. The client will
need to give verbal permission for you to speak with us about their circumstances
if you think you will need to talk with us again about the client, the client needs
to complete an ‘Appointment of Agent’ form and drop it off at your nearest MSD
service centre. Alternatively, you can email a scanned copy to
[email protected].
Note: verbal permission will only provide a temporary agency for the duration of that
call. It will be at your discretion how you engage with an agent or advocate in matters
related to social housing tenancies. However, you must comply with the Privacy Act 1993
to ensure the client’s information is only shared with appropriate people.
Timeframe for client to make their decision
You should allow up to 48 hours for a client to make and inform you of their decision. If
more time is required, you should contact the Centralised Unit Housing to discuss the
reasons for the property offer to remain open, before considering another client from the
social housing register.
Outcome of property offer
When you have made the property offer to a client and know the outcome of their
decision, you will need to update the referral via Business Online Services. The referral
outcome can be one of the following:




Offer Accepted
Financial Assistance Required
Offer Declined
Offer Withdrawn
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You will need to ensure that any application for whom you have requested a referral is
returned to the register by adding an outcome in Business Online Services.
Financial assistance required
Please refer to the section regarding clients requiring financial assistance for bond and
rent in advance.
Client accepts property offer
When updating the referral in Business Online Services to show the client has accepted
the offer, you will also be prompted to supply details of the tenancy agreement.
Client declines property offer
If a client declines the offer of a suitable property, you need to:


advise them of the consequences of declining a suitable property without a good
and sufficient reason
find out their reasons for declining the offer and consider if the reason is
something you are able to address such as modifying the property for a client
with a disability.
If the client still chooses to decline the offer you will update the referral in Business
Online Services. You must include the reasons the client has provided for declining the
property and if you have offered to meet any of these needs. This will be used to work
out if our initial view is that the reason is good and sufficient or not.
Note: If a client does not advise you of their decision to accept or decline the property
offer you must note this as a decline in Business Online Services using the reason ‘Other’
and noting in the free text field ‘failed to respond to a property offer’.
When a client declines a suitable property offer without what the Ministry considers to be
a good and sufficient reason they will be removed from the social housing register. The
Centralised Unit Housing is responsible for determining if the decision was good and
sufficient and will advise the client of the outcome.
Once removed from the social housing register the applicant will have a 13 week period
where their decision to turn down a suitable property will be part of their assessment
when determining if they have a serious and immediate housing need.
Property offer is withdrawn
You may decide after making the property offer that the client or the property is not
suitable and withdraw the offer. You will be responsible for advising the client, including
your reasons for withdrawing the property offer.
You will also need to update the referral through Business Online Services to provide the
reason for the withdrawal.
For detailed information on how to update the referral to reflect the property offer
outcome please refer to the Business Online Services User Guide.
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Financial assistance
Supporting the client to apply for financial assistance
During the assessment process the Ministry will ask clients who are eligible if they will
require assistance with bond and rent in advance.
The payment of bond and rent in advance is relative to the rate of rent the client will
pay; that is, the rate of their weekly income-related rent as advised by the Ministry.
Clients in receipt of a main benefit from Work and Income may qualify for an Advance
Payment of Benefit (Advance). Clients who do not receive a main benefit may qualify for
a Recoverable Assistance Payment (RAP).
The income and asset thresholds for financial assistance for an Advance or RAP is lower
than the threshold for eligibility for social housing, so not all clients will qualify for
financial assistance. The thresholds for this assistance are maintained on the Work and
Income website https://www.workandincome.govt.nz/.
Advise the Ministry that client requires financial assistance
When you offer the property to the client, you will need to discuss payment of rent in
advance and bond. If the client wishes to apply for financial assistance from the Ministry,
you will need to advise us via Business Online Services. When you request the financial
assistance, the Centralised Unit Housing will assess eligibility, contact the client and if
appropriate, start a hardship application. Once you advise the Ministry via Business
Online Services that the client has accepted the property offer, the Centralised Unit
Housing will complete the hardship application.
Timeframe for applications
Once the Ministry is aware that a client is requesting financial assistance, it will take up
to 24 hours for a decision to be made to approve or decline their application.
Some clients may be required to have an appointment with their assigned case manager
at their local Work and Income Service Centre or Community Link office. The Centralised
Unit Housing will manage the appointment bookings for those clients.
The Centralised Unit Housing will make three attempts to make contact with the client
during business hours over the 24 hour period, from the time the request for financial
assistance is received. If this fails, you will be advised via Business Online Services that
the application cannot proceed.
If you make contact with the client and they wish to progress their application you
should ask them to immediately contact the Centralised Unit Housing.
Financial assistance approved
The Centralised Unit Housing will make the payment direct to your account within 24
hours for eligible clients.
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Financial assistance declined
The Centralised Unit Housing will advise you through Business Online Services if an
application is declined.
Tenancy Bond
Landlords who charge a bond must lodge it with Tenancy Services within 23 working
days using their bond lodgment form. Further information can be found on the Tenancy
Services website: http://tenancy.govt.nz/rent-bond-and-bills/bond/charging-andlodging-bond/
No further action will be required from this point unless the client has a change in
circumstances.
Redirection of benefit
Generally, as part of social housing tenancies, Income Related Rent will be redirected
from a client's main benefit, New Zealand Superannuation or Veteran's Pension and paid
to you.
Clients in receipt of Student Allowance or Student Loan Living Costs are not able to have
their payments redirected at all.
When clients are placed into social housing, a redirection is generally added for clients on
a benefit. Clients who are current tenants do not have a redirection automatically added
if they start to receive a benefit.
If there are multiple signatories to the tenancy agreement, the rent redirection amount
would be split evenly between each of the signatories unless they request that a
different split be used. In other cases, social housing clients may not be receiving any
income support payments from the Ministry.
It is the responsibility of the tenant to make arrangements to pay their rent. You will
need to contact clients to discuss alternative payment methods where redirection is not
possible.
Redirection of rent arrears
Where a client is receiving financial assistance from MSD and has rent arrears, you can
request a redirection for the amount owed. The request will include the total amount of
arrears owed and how much the client will pay towards the debt.
You will need to advise the Centralised Unit Housing when the total amount of arrears
has been paid.
For deductions other than rent
If a client wishes to redirect more than the calculated rate of rent they will pay you, for
example, for water rates or lawn mowing services, they will need to complete a
redirection form.
This form is available on the Work and Income website at
http://www.workandincome.govt.nz/documents/forms/redirection-of-benefitpayment.pdf. You will need to assist the client to complete this form.
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Once completed, the client will need to take the form to their local Work and Income
office to have their application processed. The client will be notified directly of the
outcome and will then be responsible for informing you of the details.
Youth Service Clients
Youth Service providers work closely to support young people in their service, and the
Ministry anticipates some Youth Service providers may attend property viewings and
assist young people entering into a tenancy arrangement.
Youth Service clients who are aged 16 or 17 will need to submit an application to the
Tenancy Tribunal to get consent to enter a tenancy agreement if they accept the
property offer. The Youth Service provider will support them through this process.
As Youth Service client applications for rent and bond and redirections are processed by
a specialist MSD business unit (Youth Service Support Unit), these clients are unable to
pre-apply for financial assistance.
If the Youth client requires rent and bond, notify the Centralised Unit Housing (via
Business Online Services); the unit will contact the Youth Service Support Unit who will
ensure this request is managed by the youth provider.
The Centralised Unit Housing is unable to assist with any Youth client processing or
enquiries.
Client is now a tenant
Tenancy agreement
Both you and your tenants have rights and responsibilities under the Residential
Tenancies Act 1986.
All rights and responsibilities should be made clear to the client prior to entering into the
tenancy agreement.
All tenancy agreements must be in writing and the client must be advised of your
expectations, including their responsibilities when tenanting a property in your service.
The tenancy agreement should set out the particular conditions that have been agreed to
before you and the tenant sign to commence the tenancy.
Tenant breaches responsibilities
You will be responsible for managing any breach of tenancy responsibilities and/or the
tenancy agreement.
It is expected that you will continue to adhere and act in accordance with the Residential
Tenancies Act 1986 to resolve any breach in responsibility by the tenant.
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Tenant makes contact with the Ministry
If your tenant contacts the Ministry about breaches of responsibilities or tenancy
disputes, they will be referred back to you to resolve the matter.
Changes in circumstances
All clients have a duty to inform the Ministry of any changes in circumstances that might
affect their rate of income-related rent, their on-going eligibility for social housing or the
need for a particular property they are renting. This can be at any stage from when they
have been assessed as having a housing need and are on the social housing register,
through to when they are a tenant.
Depending on when the change occurs will determine how the Ministry will review their
eligibility for social housing or their rate of income-related rent.
More information is provided in Appendix Five when changes impact a client’s eligibility
for:



social housing (prior to becoming a tenant)
the rate of income-related rent (for a tenant)
tenancy reviews (for a tenant).
Income-related rent
Income-related rent is the subsidised rent scheme for social housing tenants with low
incomes. The rate of income-related rent is calculated based on a household’s assessable
income and their household type.
The Ministry is responsible for calculating the rate of income-related rent and you will be
responsible for charging this rate as rent to the tenant. You can, at your discretion,
charge a lower rent than the IRR calculated. This can occur where:


special circumstances exist, for example, you are renovating a property or the
property is not of 'market' quality
you consider it would not make a material difference to the client when the
Ministry notifies you of an increase to the client’s IRR.
However, you cannot claim for additional Income Related Rent Subsidy for the difference
between the Income Related Rent rate notified by the Ministry and any lower rent you
decide to charge at your own discretion. If a tenant’s calculated rate of income-related
rent is a rate that is equal to or higher than the market rent rate, you must charge the
market rent rate for the property. This means you will not receive the Income-Related
Rent Subsidy.
Income-Related Rent Subsidy
Income-Related Rent Subsidy is the difference between calculated income-related rent
for client’s household and approved market rent for the vacancy. The Income-Related
Rent Subsidy is the portion paid to you by the Ministry.
For example:
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Calculated rate of
income-related rent (paid
by the client)
Market rent rate (as
agreed with the Ministry)
Income-Related Rent
Subsidy (paid to you by
the Ministry)
$120
$300
$180
For more information about income-related rent or the Income-Related Rent Subsidy
visit the Ministry’s Housing website at http://www.housing.msd.govt.nz/.
Payment of Income-Related Rent Subsidy
The Social Housing National Contracts team are responsible for the payment of the
Income-Related Rent Subsidy. Payments will be made on a fortnightly basis.
You are required to check the Service Invoice Schedule via Business Online
Services for accuracy. You should submit your invoice once you are satisfied with the
accuracy of the Schedule.
Note: Income-Related Rent Subsidy payments are exclusive of GST.
Rent effective dates
Each time a client’s income-related rent is reviewed and the rate changes, the Ministry
will advise you of the date that this new rent will take effect from, in accordance with the
Residential Tenancies Act 1986 and Housing Restructuring and Tenancy Matters Act
1992.
The notice periods the Ministry uses to calculate the new rent effective dates are:



14 day notice period; or
60 day notice period; or
61 day period
o Whichever applies in the circumstances.
Note: for reductions in rent you must decrease the rent from the earliest rent effective
date following the notification (there is no 14, 60 or 61-day notice period applied for rent
decreases).
14 day notice period and the 61 day
period – Housing Restructuring and
Tenancy Matters Act
60 day notice period and the 180
day rule – Residential Tenancies Act
You must give tenants at least 14 days’
notice of any increase in their rate of
income-related rent that is due to a
change in their circumstances.
The 60 day notice period ensures that a
client receives at least 60 days’ notice
of an increase in their rent. The 60 day
notice period will apply to all increases
of rent where the 61 day period is not
applicable.
The 14 days’ notice must be given
before the effective date. It could be
Social Housing Provider Operational Guidelines for Community Housing Providers
20
within the 61 day period, or in addition
to it, depending on when the change of
circumstance was notified or discovered
by the Ministry.
This will include situations where the
client doesn’t provide sufficient
information to the Ministry to calculate
or review the rate of income-related
rent and generally their rent is to be
The 14 day notice period starts from the
increased to market rent.
date the notice is deemed to have been
given to the tenant. In other words, it is In situations where the 60 day notice
in addition to the service period that
period applies, a client’s rent cannot be
applies (depending on the method of
increased within 180 days of the last
delivery).
rent increase.
The 61 day period ensures that, when a
tenant has a change of circumstance,
any increase in their rate of incomerelated rent cannot take effect until at
least 61 days after the date that the
change in circumstances occurred
(regardless of when the change of
circumstance was notified or
discovered). The 61 day period is
counted from the day after the day that
the change of circumstances occurred.
The 60 day notice period starts from the
date the notice is deemed to have been
given to the client. In other words, it is
in addition to the service period that
applies (depending on the method of
delivery).
When the 14 day period applies
When the 60 day period applies?
The 14 day notice period is used when
there is an increase in the tenant’s rate
of income-related rent following a
change in their circumstances, (which
can include changes to an applicable
person’s income, and changes to the
tenant’s household).
The 60 day notice period is used:
It is counted in calendar days.



following an increase in the tenant’s
rate of income-related rent due to
the annual general adjustment to
the rates of the Ministry’s financial
assistance
when a tenant has not provided
sufficient information to the
Ministry to complete a review of
their income-related rent when
asked.
when the tenant is paying rent at
the market rent rate and the
housing provider increases the rate
of market rent
Please refer to the Business Online Services User Guide for the process for market rent
increases for clients who are not paying income-related rent i.e. market renters.
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21
Changes to Income-Related Rent Subsidy
Changes in circumstances
All social housing tenants must advise the Ministry of a change in circumstances as soon
as possible and within 14 days of the change. Changes in household type or assessable
income may affect the client’s calculated rate of income-related rent.
A tenant can inform the Ministry of any changes via a case manager, any of the
Ministry’s General Enquiries free phone 0800 numbers, at a Work and Income Service
Centre or the Centralised Unit Housing, or for Work and Income clients, via the Ministry’s
online services.
When a client has a change of circumstances the Centralised Unit Housing will record the
change and will:



assess if the change is temporary or permanent
review the rate of income-related rent when the change is likely to be permanent and
last more than eight weeks
make decisions on whether market rent is applicable in situations where the tenant’s
circumstances cannot be confirmed and income-related rent cannot be calculated.
If there is any change to the calculated rate of income-related rent, the
Centralised Unit Housing will notify you of the change and the effective date
through the Business Online Services notification. You must send confirmation
of the new amount of income related rent and effective date via Business
Online Services, either seven days prior to the effective day of the change, or
within 24 hours (if the effective date is sooner than seven days).
Please note that the Ministry adjusts the Income Related Rent Subsidy when the change
of Income Related Rent is calculated. Once you have updated the rent charged field, this
will generate a message for MSD to change the rent redirection if required.
If the new Income Related Rent amount has increased and you do not update the rent
charged with the new amount, you will continue to receive an unchanged amount of
Income Related Rent (from your tenant) and a reduced amount of Income Related Rent
Subsidy.
While the Centralised Unit Housing will manage any changes, you will be responsible for
informing the tenant in writing of the amount of rent payable and the date this takes
effect according to the rules set out in the Residential Tenancy Act 1986 and the Housing
Restructuring and Tenancy Matters Act 1992.
Some examples of these changes are outlined in the table below:
Change in
circumstance
Income-related rent will be reviewed
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Absence from New
Zealand
Any absence from New Zealand that is permanent may affect
the rate of income-related rent.
If a client has advised the Ministry prior to being absent from
New Zealand that they are going to be absent, they can have
the same rate of income-related rent calculated for them for up
to eight weeks during the period of the absence. After eight
weeks the rate of income-related rent will be reviewed by the
Ministry.
If a client does not advise that they are going to be absent from
New Zealand before they leave, the rate of income-related rent
will be reviewed by the Ministry straight away.
The Centralised Unit Housing will make a decision about
whether the rate of income-related rent will change and will
apply the changes as appropriate.
Benefit (grants,
transfers and rate
changes)
Any benefit changes that are permanent may affect the rate of
income-related rent. This could include where:
Benefit stops
Where a tenant or their partner is receiving a benefit or other
form of on-going financial assistance from the Ministry and this
has reduced or stopped, the rate of income-related rent will be
reviewed:



a client is granted a benefit
a client is transferred to another benefit type
there is a change to a client’s rate of benefit (for example a
change from a sole parent rate to a single rate of benefit).

when the client advises the Ministry of a change in
circumstances; or
 eight weeks following the cancellation of financial
assistance.
If the client’s benefit is temporarily stopped, the Ministry is
unable to redirect the rent until the benefit is resumed. It will
be up to the client to make the payments during this period.
Child changes
A dependent child leaving, or coming into, the client’s care may
result in the Ministry reviewing the rate of income-related rent.
Death of a tenant
When information is received by the Ministry about the death of
a client, the income-related rent will be recalculated for any
remaining tenancy signatories.
Hospital – tenant is
admitted to hospital
or enters residential
care
When information is received by the Ministry about a client or
their partner going into hospital or residential care for longer
than eight weeks, their income-related rent will be recalculated.
Income for that person will be removed from the income -
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related rent calculation.
Imprisonment
If a client has advised the Ministry prior to being imprisoned or
being held on remand, they can have the same rate of incomerelated rent calculated for them during the period of the
imprisonment (up to eight weeks).
After eight weeks the rate of income-related rent will be
reviewed (if the tenant has not been released).
If a client does not advise the Ministry that they are going to
prison or are being held on remand, the rate of income-related
rent will be reviewed as soon as possible. If the client’s benefit
is stopped, the Ministry is unable to redirect the rent until the
benefit is resumed. It will be up to the client to make the
payments during this period.
Income
Any income changes that last longer than eight weeks may
affect the rate of income-related rent.
Relationship
changes
If a client and their partner separate, (and the partner is not a
signatory to the tenancy agreement) the partner’s income will
no longer be applicable for the income-related rent calculation.
The Centralised Unit Housing will recalculate the income-related
rent from the date:


assessable income reduced, or
the date the partner no longer resides at the property.
Whichever is the later.
Third boarder
Where there are more than two boarders at the property, a
percentage of the board paid to the tenant is included as
income for income-related rent purposes.
Non notified changes of circumstances
In some case the Ministry will share information with you as it may impact on the
tenancy. This would be shared via Business Online Services. Generally, information will
only be shared once we are aware that the changes are permanent; that is, eight weeks
or longer.
Type of change
When MSD will advise you
Absence from
New Zealand
Eight weeks after the date of departure; or straight away if the
departure is permanent
Imprisonment
Eight weeks after the date of imprisonment
Hospitalisation or
Eight weeks after the date client went into hospital or care; or
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24
rest home care
straight away if the care is permanent
No longer residing
in the property
Straight away; or after eight weeks if the client is only
temporally (e.g. less than eight weeks) living away from the
property
Relationship
changes e.g.
relationships
starting or ending
Legal name change
Straight away.
Death of a tenant
Straight away
Backdating income-related rent decreases and refunds
The Ministry will be responsible for decisions to backdate the rate of income-related rent
to an earlier period and issuing refunds.
The amount refunded will be the difference between the previously calculated rate of
income-related rent and the new lower rate of calculated income related-rent.
Where the client (your tenant) has paid the higher amount of rent to you as the housing
provider, the refund will be paid directly to the client.
Where the client has under paid their rent for the same period that the refund is due, the
refund will be paid to you as the housing provider. In some cases the refund will be paid
to both the client and to you. This will be where the client has paid some, but not all of
the rent due.
When the Ministry has calculated a refund to the client, we will first check with you via
Business Online Services to see if you are owed rent for the same refund period, and ask
you to confirm the amount and the period for which the rent is owed.
If the income-related rent increases or decreases during a payment period, you will need
to detail this in the payment schedule by providing the period and days that both rates
applied.
Debt management
The Ministry will be responsible for the calculation, establishment and recovery of
income-related rent debts.
Any income-related rent debts incurred will be recovered through existing Ministry
guidelines, practices and process.
You are responsible for the recovery of any tenancy related debt including rent arrears
and property damage costs.
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25
Tenant annual reviews
All tenants are required to complete an annual review of their income-related rent with
the Ministry. This includes those tenants paying market rent. If a tenant hasn’t had a
change in circumstances that resulted in a change to their income-related rent in the last
52 weeks, they will be sent a letter (five weeks prior to their scheduled review date)
advising them to complete an annual review or confirm their circumstances.
All tenants are given five weeks to complete their annual review. If a tenant doesn’t
complete their annual review, their income-related rent may be increased to the market
rent rate.
The Centralised Unit Housing is responsible for managing annual reviews and will advise
you of any changes that may impact a tenant’s rate of income-related rent (and
therefore possibly the rate of Income-Related Rent Subsidy paid to you).
Incomplete annual reviews
Tenants who do not complete their annual review form or have not provided sufficient
information for the Centralised Unit Housing to calculate the income-related rent, may be
charged the market rent. You will be advised of this through a notification in Business
Online Services.
You will then need to update the Current Rent and Start Date information in Business
Online Services. Refer to the Business Online Services user guide ‘Advise the Ministry of
a change to the rent amount’ process.
In these situations you may choose to retain or set the rent at a rate less than the
market rent. You must never charge more than the market rent rate approved for the
property.
Should you choose not to charge the market rent rate, you will not be eligible to receive
the Income-Related Rent Subsidy until a new rate of income-related rent has been
calculated and notified to you for the tenant.
Notification of changes to income-related rent for the tenant
When a new rate of the income-related rent is applied the Ministry will provide the
tenant with the following in writing:




an acknowledgement of the change in circumstances that has occurred
the new rate of income-related rent that has been calculated
a statement that the tenant has the right to request a review of the Ministry’s
decision to recalculate the rate of income-related rent
a statement that makes it clear that you, as their social housing provider, determine
whether there will be a change in the rent charged and the rent effective date.
You will need to update the Current Rent and Start Date information in Business Online
Services. Refer to the Business Online Services user guide ‘Advise the Ministry of a
change to the rent amount’ process.
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26
Market rent rates
Setting the market rent rate
The market rent rate for social housing properties is set by you and must be comparable
to the rent charged for other properties of a similar type, size and location.
It is expected that social housing properties will be in the lower quartile of type, size and
location. For more information about the lower quartile rates for your area, go to
https://www.tenancy.govt.nz/.
For any changes to the market rent for a property you will need to notify the Contracts
team using the Business Online Services application. You must provide the tenant with
the correct notice period required under the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 when
advising of the market rent increase where the client is paying market rent. Please refer
to the Business Online Services User Guide for the process to inform the Ministry of
market rent increases.
If there is a decrease in market rent that may affect the amount of rent that the tenant
pays, you will need to ensure that you include the rent effective date (the next date rent
is due to be paid). This is because the Centralised Unit Housing will change any
redirection of benefit or superannuation for the amount of rent that the client may have
in place.
Approving market rent rates
The Ministry must approve all market rent rates and will be responsible for ensuring that
they are comparable to the rent charged for other properties of a similar type, size and
location within the lower quartile. They will also be reviewing market rent rates to ensure
it is within the Ministry’s current IRRS appropriation.
Where the market rent rate offered is above the lower quartile, the Contracts team is
responsible for the approval process. Depending on the level of market rent request, you
may be required to provide in writing:




the calculation used to determine the market rent rate; and
a rationale as to why the rent is higher
Independent Market Rent valuation report
all of the above.
Declining market rent rates
If the market rent rate is declined, the General Manager Advisor (Contracts) will contact
you to discuss this decision.
Market rent decreases
When a tenant is paying rent at the market rent rate and you decrease the market rent,
you must apply the decrease from the next rent effective date for the tenant. You will
also provide the tenant written notice of the change to the rent payable.
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27
Ending the subsidy
Once a tenant is no longer eligible to have a rate of income-related rent calculated, you
will not be eligible to be paid the Income-Related Rent Subsidy. The Income-Related
Rent Subsidy will end on the day after the last rent charge date or the end day of the
tenancy.
Transfers
Client initiated transfers
If the client has had a change in their housing needs and/or advises you that their
current housing is no longer suitable they can request a transfer to a more suitable
property. Refer the client to the Centralised Unit Housing. The Centralised Unit Housing
may complete an assessment. In any case you should manage the expectations of
tenants who want to test their eligibility for a transfer when their circumstances have not
changed, by advising them that they may not be eligible as they are already suitably
housed.
If the client is eligible for a transfer due to a significant change in circumstances, then
the Ministry will place the client onto the housing transfer register.
Business initiated transfers
Transfers within your own housing stock
If you need to transfer clients within your own housing stock you will need to notify the
Ministry by submitting a property vacancy (for the property you are transferring the
tenant to) through Business Online Services and indicate that the property is for a
transfer. The Contracts team will approve or decline market rent.
If you consider the transfer necessary and other housing will be more appropriate for the
client’s housing needs, you can complete the transfer at any time without further review.
Transfers within your own housing stock should generally be like for like. If the client’s
housing needs have changed you will need to request that the Ministry completes an
assessment to identify the client’s housing requirements. The Ministry will confirm to you
that the client has been contacted and their housing requirements reassessed.
Once the market rent has been approved you will be updated through the Business
Online Services application to advise you of the outcome. The system will notify the
Centralised Unit Housing so that they can update details for the client.
Provider to provider transfers
You may have cases where a client is more suited to the services and housing of another
social housing provider.
If the other social housing provider is also contracted to provide income-related rent
tenancies to the Ministry, and the client’s housing requirements have not changed, you
may arrange for the client transfer. In all cases the client must first consent to the
transfer.
Social Housing Provider Operational Guidelines for Community Housing Providers
28
If the client’s housing needs have changed you will need to request that the Ministry
completes an assessment to identify the client’s housing requirements.
You will need to negotiate the date of the transfer with the client and the other provider,
and agree who is meeting any costs related to the transfer.
You and the new provider will need to:



formally notify the client of the date of the transfer
arrange for a new Tenancy Agreement with the client
arrange for the transfer of the bond
The provider to whom the client is transferring will need to list the vacancy in Business
Online Services to be approved by the Contracts team and create a task to advise the
Ministry of the transfer. They will need to include:





current Tenancy Reference
new Tenancy Reference
tenancy Start Date
payment reference
rent effective date
You will need to give the Ministry 14 days’ notice of the change and the provider from
whom the tenant is transferring will need to end the tenancy in Business Online Services.
Note: HNZ does not use Business Online Services.
Changes in property ownership
If you sell, transfer or lease property with an existing income related rent tenancy you
will need to advise the Ministry. If the purchaser of the property or lease is not a
community housing provider, they will not be able to claim income related rent subsidy,
and the tenant would be charged market rent.
The Ministry will need a minimum of 14 days’ notice of any change in ownership.
If the new owner is a community housing provider, they will need to notify the Ministry
through the Business Online Services application of the new account number to redirect
rent payments if applicable, and confirm the start and end dates for payment of the
income-related rent subsidy.
Each provider will need to notify the client of the change of landlord and other details in
accordance with the Residential Tenancies Act 1986.
Generally there will be no other impact on the client if they are remaining in the same
property and have simply had a change in landlord.
Join-ins
Joining a tenancy
People joining a household do not have to become signatories to the tenancy agreement.
Tenants who wish to include another person or household in the tenancy agreement
must first obtain conditional agreement from you. You will need to consider whether the:
Social Housing Provider Operational Guidelines for Community Housing Providers
29



property is suitable for the combined household’s needs
occupancy limit isn’t breached
prospective tenant is acceptable.
If the prospective tenant is acceptable and the housing is suitable, you will conditionally
agree to the request for a join-in and notify the Centralised Unit Housing through the
Business Online Services application. Final agreement however is not given until after
the Ministry determines eligibility for social housing. The Centralised Unit Housing will
contact the prospective tenant on receipt of the request information to arrange an
eligibility assessment.
Following the eligibility assessment, the outcome will be provided to you by the
Centralised Unit Housing via the Business Online Services application.
Change in number of tenants
In situations where you make a decision to include or exclude tenants you must inform
the Centralised Unit Housing through a notification sent using Business Online Services.
The Centralised Unit Housing will update the tenancy record to reflect any changes to the
number of tenants. Income-related rent will be reviewed and if there are any changes
you will be notified.
Tenancy Reviews
Note: The Tenancy Review process has not started for all social housing tenants. When
a tenant is selected for tenancy review the housing provider will be advised.
The purpose of the Tenancy Review process is to ensure the right people are in the right
social housing for the right duration. People who no longer need social housing are
supported to find alternative housing so that social housing is available for those who
most need it.
The Ministry can review any tenant’s continued eligibility for social housing and their
housing needs (housing requirements).
The Ministry may support clients through engagement and planning and complete a
formal review of a tenant’s eligibility.
The four potential outcomes from the tenancy review process are:
•
•
•
•
households voluntarily exit social housing – the household may leave on their
own accord or the Ministry can support them to find and secure alternative
housing
the household has continued eligibility and their current house is appropriate
for their housing needs
the household has continued eligibility but their housing needs have changed the Ministry advises the housing provider who in turn, may transfer the client
to another property
the household does not have continued eligibility and the Ministry advises the
provider, who may then issue a 90 day notice to end the tenancy.
Social Housing Provider Operational Guidelines for Community Housing Providers
30
If the household is no longer eligible for social housing, they will start a three month
transition period. During this time the Ministry will continue to work with the household
to assist them to find alternative housing.
Note: You will be notified that the household is no longer eligible for social housing the
end of the transition period. At this point, you as the landlord will make a decision, under
the Residential Tenancies Act 1986, whether or not to continue a tenancy where the
Ministry advises there is no continued eligibility for social housing. Where the decision is
not to continue the tenancy, you must issue the tenant a 90 day notice.
You may opt to retain a tenant who is no longer eligible for social housing and not
receive an Income Related Rent Subsidy for the property. In this situation, the Income
Related Rent Subsidy will continue to be paid to you for the 60 day notice period
required for a change in rent to the market rent rate. At the conclusion of this 60 day
period, you will need to end the tenancy in Business Online Services. This indicates that
the client is no longer a social housing client. You do not need to end the tenancy in your
own systems.
The Ministry will provide the following information through ShareFile:
•
Tenancy Review client selection notification report – weekly document sent via
ShareFile by the Ministry’s Operational Support Advisor (OSA) identifying clients
selected for tenancy review. This report will contain the following information:
o
o
o
o
o
client name
SWN
partner name and SWN
address
tenancy reference.
•
Ad hoc Tenancy Review client information request –documents sent via ShareFile
by OSA to the housing provider
•
Formal notification of Eligible / Eligible - change in need outcomes – document
sent via ShareFile by OSA to the housing provider after client has been notified of
outcome.
•
Formal notification of Not Eligible outcomes - document sent via ShareFile by OSA
to the housing provider at the end of client’s 3 month transition period.
The table below sets out the touch points between the Ministry and housing providers.
Touch Points
MSD action
Provider action
Tenancy Review client
selection notification report
Weekly document sent to
the provider via ShareFile
No response required
Ad hoc Tenancy Review client
information requests.
Including but not limited to:
Ad hoc request/response
sent to the provider via
ShareFile)
Provider request/response
sent to MSD via ShareFile


modified property
check
lifetime Tenure/
Occupation Order check
Response required within
10 working days of ad
hoc request
Response required within
10 working days of ad hoc
request
Social Housing Provider Operational Guidelines for Community Housing Providers
31
Touch Points
MSD action
Provider action
Provider to be advised if
further time required
MSD to be advised if
further time required
Formal notification of clients
found eligible for social
housing with no change in
housing need
Report sent to provider
via ShareFile
No response required
Formal notification of clients
found eligible for social
housing with a change in
housing need
Report sent to provider
via ShareFile
Provider response sent to
MSD via ShareFile to
confirm whether client(s)
will be transferred under
Business Initiated
Transfer process.




tenancy end date check
property purchase
enquiries
client escalations
Tenancy Review
messaging check
Response required within
30 days of formal review
outcome notification
MSD to be advised if
further time required
Informal heads up notification
of clients found not eligible for
social housing
Report sent to provider
via ShareFile
No response required
Formal notification of clients
found not eligible for social
housing
Report sent to provider
via ShareFile
Provider response sent to
MSD via ShareFile to
confirm whether client(s)
will be issued with 90 day
notice.
Response required within
30 days of formal review
outcome notification
MSD to be advised if
further time required
Ending a tenancy
If a tenancy is ending, either client or provider initiated, this must be carried out in
accordance with the Residential Tenancy Act 1986. You will need to notify the Ministry
seven working days prior to the tenancy end date.
Social Housing Provider Operational Guidelines for Community Housing Providers
32
You will complete the relevant information to update the Centralised Unit Housing and
Contracts team through the Business Online Services application.
The Centralised Unit Housing will close the records based on the tenancy end date
provided.
Exit all tenants and Outcome Agreement
If you decide you no longer wish to house social housing tenants and you want to exit
your Outcome Agreement, you will be required to put this in writing.
You will need to give the Ministry 90 days’ notice to make arrangements for tenants to
be reassessed, and where applicable, returned to the social housing register.
If you are no longer registered with the CHRA as a Community Housing Provider your
IRRS Outcome Agreement will be cancelled.
Fraud investigations
Identifying suspected housing fraud
Fraud can occur at any point in the process from the time an applicant applies to
becoming a tenant.
Applicants and current tenants have a duty to advise the Ministry of any changes in their
circumstances. This includes their spouse or partner’s circumstances that may impact
their eligibility to be placed, or remain in social housing, the calculated rate of incomerelated rent and the need for the particular property they are renting.
Informing the Ministry of suspected housing fraud
You may observe that a tenant’s circumstances appear different from what is detailed in
their tenancy agreement.
Some examples of suspected fraud are:




undeclared partner
under-declared income
information supplied on their application differs from their tenancy agreement
sub-letting.
If you suspect at any point that a client is committing housing fraud, please log on to the
Ministry’s website and report your suspicion online. Please refer to Appendix Ten for the
web address and some information about the type details that we require to investigate
an allegation.
If any further information is needed a Ministry investigator may contact the person who
has reported the fraud suspicion directly.
Social Housing Provider Operational Guidelines for Community Housing Providers
33
Process to investigate
Any investigation will be carried out in line with existing Ministry investigation practices
and processes. You will only hear about an investigation if further information is needed,
as the Ministry is not legally able to keep you updated on:



whether there is sufficient information to investigate
the progress of any investigation
the outcome of an investigation if it does not affect the tenancy.
During an investigation you may be required to provide further information. This request
would be made under section 11 of the Social Security Act or section 125 of the Housing
Restructuring and Tenancy Matters Act 1992.
Individual staff may also be required to complete a witness statement and attend court
as a prosecution witness.
Outcome of investigation
Once an investigation is completed the Ministry will review all entitlements to both
benefits and housing.
If the rate of income-related rent is affected, the Ministry will review and set incomerelated rent to the correct rate. The correct rate of income-related rent will be amended
and updated by the Centralised Unit Housing.
The Ministry will establish and recover any debt related to the incorrect payment of
income-related rent. If the investigation determines that the tenancy may be affected,
for example the property has been abandoned or sublet, a Regional Fraud Investigator
may contact you to discuss this.
Prosecutions
In some cases an investigation may result in a decision by the Ministry to prosecute the
tenant or tenants or associated people.
All prosecutions will be managed through the Ministry’s Legal Services in line with the
Solicitor-General’s Prosecution Guidelines. For these Guidelines go to:
http://www.crownlaw.govt.nz/uploads/prosecution_guidelines_2013.pdf .
You may be required to provide witness statements to Ministry investigators and attend
court as a prosecution witness.
Vulnerable children and families
The Ministry and you are required to report any concerns where the safety of a child
and/or their family is at risk.
Social Housing Provider Operational Guidelines for Community Housing Providers
34
Child abuse
If you become aware of potential or actual child abuse, neglect, or situations where a
child is being exposed to family violence, you should ring Child, Youth and Family. Please
refer to Appendix Eight for the contact phone number.
Family violence
If family violence is suspected or disclosed to you by an applicant or tenant you should
assess the safety of your client and their child/ children immediately. If their immediate
safety is of concern you should contact the Police.
You are also able to access on the tenant’s behalf, the Work and Income Family Violence
Intervention Programme (FVIP). To find out more go to
http://www.workandincome.govt.nz/community/programmes-and-projects/familyviolence-intervention-programme.html
For more information about Family Violence, go to the Ministry’s Family Violence, It’s Not
Ok website at http://areyouok.org.nz/family-violence/
Social Housing Provider Operational Guidelines for Community Housing Providers
35
Complaints and Reviews of Decision
Review of decision
A client may apply to the Ministry for a Review of Decision (ROD) regarding any Ministry
decision that affects their entitlement to social housing.
This could be related to a decision the Ministry has made regarding (this is not an
exhaustive list):





the assessment of the client’s eligibility for social housing
assessment of the client’s housing needs
removal of the client from the housing register
calculation of the client’s rate of income-related rent
calculation of income-related rent debt or refund.
If a client approaches you to query or dispute a decision made by the Ministry, refer
them to the Centralised Unit Housing for more information. The Centralised Unit Housing
can discuss the decision, and if the client wishes to request review of that decision,
explain their options.
A Review of Decision must be submitted in writing and can be lodged at any Ministry
service centre or Community Link office. The forms are available on our website, or the
client can send us a letter.
More information about the Ministry’s review process is available on the Work and
Income website at http://www.workandincome.govt.nz/individuals/your-rights-andresponsibilities/asking-for-a-review-of-decision.html.
Complaints about the Ministry
The Ministry will manage any complaint received from a client about the service they
received from the Ministry. This could relate to:









appointment times
screening
assessments
register management
financial assistance
calculation of income-related rent
annual reviews
fraud investigations
establishment and recovery of Income-Related Rent Subsidy debts.
If a client contacts you to make a complaint about the service they have received from
the Ministry, you should refer them to the Work and Income general enquiries line.
Alternatively you can refer them to the Work and Income website if the client would
prefer to submit their complaint online:
http://www.workandincome.govt.nz/individuals/your-rights-and-responsibilities/makinga-complaint.html.
Social Housing Provider Operational Guidelines for Community Housing Providers
36
Complaints about social housing providers
You are responsible for any complaints related to tenancy and management of the
property, including:









time to view property offers
placements
market rents
tenancy matters
property repairs and or maintenance
business initiated tenant transfers
neighbourly disputes
staff behaviour
referrals to the Tenancy Tribunal.
The Ministry will refer the client back to you for such enquiries.
Responding to information requests
The Ministry has a range of statutory reporting requirements and responsibilities for
information requests that include:





written and oral parliamentary questions
briefings for Ministers
Official Information Act 1991 requests
media inquiries
select committee hearings.
The Ministry may include information in responses that relate to you as a social housing
provider.
In turn, you may get media inquiries or requests for information directly to you.
As part of a no surprises approach both the Ministry and you will be responsible for
consulting each other when a request is made that is likely to affect the other.
Please refer to Appendix Eight for contact details.
Social Housing Provider Operational Guidelines for Community Housing Providers
37
Risk and issues management
The Ministry and providers will work closely to mitigate risks and resolve any issues as
they arise.
The table below identifies the types of risks that should be escalated immediately, but is
not exhaustive.
Risk
Explanation
High


(Critical)


Escalation Process
A privacy breach.

A health and safety incident
where either agencies’ staff is
at risk.

A media inquiry that will
affect both agencies.

Representation from
Ministers or MPs that will
affect both agencies.
Provider notifies their
Relationship Manager by
telephone.
Complete a written summary of
the critical risk.
Upload a risk summary through
Business Online Services for the
Centralised Unit Housing to
forward to the Relationship
Manager.
Receiving and resolving
Each agency will be responsible for managing risks, issues and complaints that are made
about their services, including when the matter is not able to be resolved.
Wherever possible, risks and issues should be resolved at a local level first. If the issue
cannot be resolved at a local level it may be escalated to the General Manager Advisor
(Contracts). Please refer to Appendix Eight for contact details.
Social Housing Provider Operational Guidelines for Community Housing Providers
38
Appendix One - Definitions
The table below outlines the commonly used terms and their definition used throughout
these Guidelines.
Term
Definition
Annual Review of
Income Related Rent
A process to confirm tenants’ circumstances, to check their
income-related rent is correct.
Assessment
Assessment of eligibility to determine housing need, priority
and housing requirements.
Assessable income
Income that must be used to determine the rate of incomerelated rent, for example net benefit rates and employment
earnings.
Asset threshold
The level of assets a client can have before it affects their
eligibility or income-related rent.
Boarders
Additional occupants who contribute towards household costs
by paying board.
Bond
Money a landlord can ask a tenant to pay as security.
Business Online
Services
The online application used for the exchange of information
between Community Housing Providers and the Ministry
Change in
circumstance
Change to a person’s financial or family situation that may
affect their place on the register or the rate of income-related
rent.
Community housing
provider
Provider of affordable and social housing, which may be for
people with specific needs.
Fast track
Some clients may be fast tracked due to the household being
at risk of rheumatic fever. These clients will appear at the top
of the shortlist for placement.
Household
composition
The people housed with the client/tenant, this may include
extended family or boarders.
Household type
Defines household composition for the purpose of calculating
income-related rent.
Social Housing Provider Operational Guidelines for Community Housing Providers
39
Term
Definition
Housing register
List of clients assessed as eligible for social housing, waiting to
be matched with a suitable property.
Identified Suitable
Client
A client known to you or your service, who is currently on the
social housing register and that you have identified as being a
suitable match to your vacancy.
Income-related Rent
Subsidised rent based on financial and family circumstances.
Income-Related Rent
Subsidy
Payment to providers to cover the difference between the
income-related rent and the market rent.
Income threshold
The level of income a client can have before it affects their
eligibility for social housing or the percentage of income they
contribute to their income-related rent.
Iron Key
Is a secure portable USB flashdrive to collect and exchange
information between the Ministry and a community housing
provider. This applies only when the Ministry Business
Continuity Plan has been activated.
Join-ins
A person who wishes to be included in the tenancy agreement.
Market rent
Rent that could be charged for a property if it was in the
private market.
Priority rating
A client’s place on the register based on their level of need.
RealMe
The RealMe service was created by the Department of Internal
Affairs and New Zealand Post and designed to protect privacy
and security. It is used to access the Business Online Services
application.
Redirection
Where part of a benefit is paid directly to an organisation, to a
provider for rent for social housing.
Referral
A client referred to a social housing provider for matching to a
suitable property.
Rent effective date
The rent effective date is based on the date that the tenancy
commences, or the date from which the new Income Related
Rent is effective.
Social Housing Provider Operational Guidelines for Community Housing Providers
40
Term
Definition
Residential tenancy
agreement
A legal agreement between landlord and tenant, in respect of a
tenancy.
Screening
A process that determines whether or not a client is potentially
eligible for social housing.
ShareFile
The secure portal used for transfer of client information
between the Ministry and Providers before Business Online
Services was introduced. The Ministry may revert to ShareFile
if Business Online Services is not available.
Service period
A service period must be allowed in addition (and prior to) any
14 day notice period or 60 day notice period. Four working day
service period applies for all notices to the client posted in the
mail. Two working day service period applies for all notices
delivered by fax, email, or in person.
For example: All written notices of changes in rent sent by post
are deemed to have been given to the client on the fourth
working day after the date it was posted.
Some providers may give the client a longer service period.
Shortlist
A list of suitable applicants requested by a provider or
generated when a vacancy is listed. The shortlist is
automatically generated by Business Online Services.
Social Allocation
System (SAS)
Criteria that determine clients’ social housing need and
requirements, and their priority rating.
Social housing
provider
Housing New Zealand and approved community housing
providers.
Social Housing Reform This is the legislation that allows the Income-Related Rent
(Housing
Subsidy to be paid to registered community housing providers.
Restructuring and
Tenancy Matters
Amendment) Act 2013
Tenancy
Occupancy of a property by a tenant and the duration of that
occupancy.
Tenancy reviews
A review of a social housing tenancy by the Ministry.
Social Housing Provider Operational Guidelines for Community Housing Providers
41
Term
Definition
Tenant
A person who rents a property from a landlord.
Transfer
A relocation of a tenant from one social house to another.
Unsolicited shortlist
Used by the Ministry to manually advise providers of a client
with an urgent housing need.
Social Housing Provider Operational Guidelines for Community Housing Providers
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Appendix Two – Typical characteristics of Dwelling Types
Social Housing Provider Operational Guidelines for Community Housing Providers
43
Appendix Three – Ministry’s Business
Continuity Plan
This section details the Ministry’s business continuity plan in the event that the Business
Online Services application is unavailable.
The Centralised Unit Housing will advise you when the Ministry’s business continuity plan
will be activated.
Business continuity process
The process is around the method of exchanging information, not the information to be
exchanged. Should the Business Online Services application become unavailable, the
Ministry will revert to exchanging client sensitive information through ShareFile with a
backup process of an encrypted memory stick, known as an ‘iron key’.
ShareFile
The Centralised Unit Housing will notify you if the business continuity process has been
put in place and ShareFile is to be used.
The forms to be uploaded into ShareFile can be located at:
http://www.housing.msd.govt.nz/information-for-housing-providers/irrstenancies/#Sharefile1
A User Guide for using ShareFile can be found on the Ministry’s Housing website:
http://www.housing.msd.govt.nz
Iron key process
If the Centralised Unit Housing notifies you that the business continuity process has been
put in place and that the Iron Key process will be used, they will also advise you the
name and contact details of your local ‘iron key runner’.
This means that a staff member from your local Work and Income office will come to you
to download and upload all forms related to a:









vacancy notification
rent and bond payment and redirection of benefit
outcome of application for rent and bond payment and redirection of benefit
application
change to number of tenants
market rent change
review of income related rent
assessment request for tenant transfers and join-ins
transfer vacancy
end of tenancy.
Under no circumstances is any information, forms or templates to be emailed.
When you have a form ready to be collected you will ring your nominated person and
arrange a time for collection. This person will then come to your office, download the
Social Housing Provider Operational Guidelines for Community Housing Providers
44
information to the iron key and take it back to the local office where they will upload the
information to the Centralised Unit Housing or the General Manager Advisor (Contracts).
When information is ready to come back to you the Centralised Unit Housing or the
General Manager Advisor (Contracts) will email it to the ‘iron key runner’ who will
contact you and arrange a time to deliver it to you. They will then download the
information on to your system.
This process will continue only until the Business Online Services application issue is
resolved. The Centralised Unit Housing will advise you when to revert back to the
business as usual process.
If you have any concerns about moving to the Ministry’s business continuity plan contact
the Service Managers at the Centralised Unit Housing. Their contact details are located
on Appendix Six of this guide.
Social Housing Provider Operational Guidelines for Community Housing Providers
45
Appendix Four – Screening and assessment
Introduction
This section details how clients can get information about housing options, including
which Ministry business units can be contacted to test an applicant’s eligibility for social
housing.
Clients will be encouraged to explore all housing options available to them before
contacting the Ministry.
Housing website
The Ministry’s housing website provides a range of information about social housing
options, including links to other agencies that provide housing related services,
brochures, and factsheets. It is available at www.housing.msd.govt.nz.
Where a person is not able to access the internet or a computer, they can call one of the
general enquiries numbers at any time to make their enquiry or test their eligibility.
Ministry contact centres and general enquiries lines
If a client contacts you directly to enquire about housing refer them back to the Ministry
providing one of the general enquiries numbers below.
The core housing role of the Work and Income, Senior Services and StudyLink contact
centres is to:





receive phone enquiries about social housing
complete preliminary screening to determine if a client should proceed to an
assessment
provide information about housing options
book appointments for assessments or housing seminars with the Case Manager
(Housing)
promote other relevant Ministry products and services.
Please refer to Appendix Eight for contact details for general enquiries.
Work and Income service centres and Community Link offices
All clients ideally book an appointment to discuss housing options before visiting a
service centre or Community Link office.
If a client visits a service centre or Community Link office to enquire about housing, the
receptionist will book an appointment with the Case Manager (Housing) or refer them to
the general enquiries lines to discuss housing options.
Do not refer clients to their local service centre or Community Link office as they must
have an appointment.
Social Housing Provider Operational Guidelines for Community Housing Providers
46
Housing seminars
If a person would like to attend a housing options seminar before they apply for social
housing, they can contact the general enquiries line. They will be booked an appointment
for a seminar at their nearest service centre or Community Link office.
Eligibility
The eligibility criteria for social housing identifies people who are at risk or who have a
serious housing need and who have been assessed as unable to access or sustain
suitable, adequate and affordable housing in the private market.
In order to be eligible for social housing, people must meet the following criteria:





18 years or over or
16 or 17 years and either:
o be (or have previously been) married or in a civil union or
o single or in a de facto relationship if they have been approved by the
Tenancy Tribunal to enter a tenancy agreement for a social house they
have been offered’
be an ordinarily and lawfully resident in New Zealand
have income under the income threshold, which is 1.5 times the living alone rate of
New Zealand Superannuation for sole persons with no partner or dependent children
(these households may include ‘other persons’ or ‘boarders’), or 1.5 times the rate of
married New Zealand Superannuation for all other household composition types
have assets valued under the asset threshold which is 10% of the national average
house sales priced indexed annually.
For more information about eligibility criteria, visit the Ministry’s Housing website at
http://www.housing.msd.govt.nz/housing-options/social-housing/who-can-get-socialhousing.html. There is also a link to detailed policy information from Work and Income.
Screening
Customer Service Representatives within contact centres and Case Managers will
generally complete screening. Depending on the type of service the client is receiving,
other Ministry business units may be assigned to complete the screening and
assessment processes.
All screening will be completed in the same way regardless of which Ministry business
unit does it.
The screening conversation will include:






answering any social housing related queries
testing eligibility
completing the initial screening template
advising the client of the outcome
booking appointments with local Ministry business units, advising what information
the client needs to take to their appointment
providing information and advice about housing options
Social Housing Provider Operational Guidelines for Community Housing Providers
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
offering and booking housing seminar appointments.
The outcome of the screening conversation will be that people are:



potentially eligible
not eligible due to income/assets
unlikely to be eligible.
Potentially eligible
If a client is identified as ‘potentially eligible’, an appointment will be booked with the
local Case Manager (Housing) to undergo a formal interview for assessment. The staff
member booking the appointment will:


advise what the client must take to the assessment appointment
ensure they have the correct phone number to contact should they have any further
queries.
Not eligible due to income/assets or unlikely to be eligible
If a client is identified as ‘not eligible due to income/assets’ or ‘unlikely to be eligible’
they will not be offered an appointment for assessment. The client will be provided
information about other housing options and where applicable offered an appointment to
attend a housing seminar. If the client requests to have an appointment for assessment,
the Ministry will arrange a time to meet with the local Case Manager (Housing) in the
usual way.
No screening required – Youth Service
All Youth Service clients will be referred to their Youth Service Provider to discuss their
enquiry or test their eligibility. The Youth Service Provider will facilitate the screening
process and arrange for an assessment to be completed with the Case Manager Housing.
Assessments
Assessments will generally be completed by a local Case Manager (Housing) either faceto-face or over the phone. In some cases the Case Manager Housing may complete
assessments over the phone.
The SAS criteria determine the housing need and priority rating of applicants, based on a
set of questions within five key categories.
The five main SAS criteria are outlined in the table below.
Risk criteria
What is assessed?
Affordability
Measures a client’s ability to afford (with any income support
they may be entitled to) an alternative, suitable, lower quartile,
private rental in the location/community the client currently
lives, or in an alternative location where they need to live. The
affordability calculation is based on remaining income as a
percentage of appropriate unabated benefit.
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Adequacy
Measures whether the client needs accommodation or needs to
move from their current accommodation due to:




Suitability
not currently living in any accommodation, or living in
emergency housing for the time-being
the physical condition/structure or lack of basic facilities
of the accommodation
over-crowding or
lack of security of tenure of their current
accommodation.
Measures the need for a household to move from their current
accommodation based on the following:

medical, disability or personal needs or family violence
or neighbourhood tension (including tension within the
household) or other violence relating to the client's
current living situation.
Accessibility
The accessibility criteria measures the client’s ability to access
alternative non-social housing taking into account
discrimination, lack of cash resources for bond, rent and
furniture, and the availability of suitable alternative private
sector housing in the area where the client currently lives or
needs to live.
Sustainability
Measures a client’s likely ability to sustain non-social housing,
in particular any difficulties around financial management,
social function and lack of social skills.
Appointment standards
The Ministry has set appointment standards to meet with a client. These are:


five working days for a standard appointment
24 hours for an emergency housing appointment
Completing the assessment
In the assessment interview the Case Manager (Housing) or the Centralised Unit Housing
will:




complete the application and assessment
calculate the indicative rate of income-related rent (IRR)
verify and ensure supporting documentation is supplied and correct
advise the client of the outcome.
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Outcome of the assessment
On completion of the assessment, a priority rating will automatically be assigned to the
application.
Identified as eligible
If a client is assigned a Priority Rating of A or B, they are eligible for social housing.
Once the client has signed and returned the assessment and any necessary evidence
they are moved to the housing register as available for property offers.
Identified as not eligible
For those clients assigned a Priority Rating of C or D will not be eligible for social
housing. Priority C or D clients will be provided with other housing options and advice,
including an opportunity to attend a housing seminar.
Assessment summary
The Case Manager (Housing) or the Centralised Unit Housing will arrange for clients to
sign their Assessment Summary.
The client will be advised they:





are eligible for social housing as they have been identified as having a severe or
serious housing need
are on the housing register and will be contacted by a social housing provider when
they have been matched to a suitable property or when one becomes available
are to advise the Ministry of any changes in their circumstances that could impact
their eligibility
should keep looking for accommodation in the interim
can receive information and advice about housing options and/or attend a housing
options seminar.
Incomplete assessments
Clients who do not have the correct information at the time of assessment will be given
20 days to supply this. They will not be placed on the housing register. If the client has
not met this timeframe the Case Manager (Housing) or the Centralised Unit Housing will
close their application.
Clients who are assessed over the phone are not added to the register until they return
the signed form.
Emergency housing (interim need)
The Case Manager (Housing) or the Centralised Unit Housing will be responsible for
identifying those clients who present with an urgent housing need.
They will need to determine if the client has a temporary housing need or if they are
vulnerable or at risk.
Depending on the client’s individual circumstances and the nature of the emergency,
they may not be assessed for social housing. For example the client could:
Social Housing Provider Operational Guidelines for Community Housing Providers
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

be behind in their rent or board
evicted.
The Ministry may be able to help the client resolve their emergency through financial
assistance and where appropriate, refer the client to an emergency housing provider in
their area. If there are no local emergency housing providers, other options will be
considered as suitable alternatives, for example a hostel or back packers.
More information about emergency housing providers can be found in the Family
Services Directory at http://www.familyservices.govt.nz/directory/
Social Housing Register
When a client is placed on the social housing register, this means they are ready to be
matched to a suitable property.
While on the social housing register, the client must advise the Ministry of any change in
circumstances as this may affect their eligibility for social housing.
The Centralised Unit Housing will also regularly check a client’s circumstances, to ensure
that the client is still eligible for social housing, if they have not already had contact with
the Ministry.
The Centralised Unit Housing will complete regular checks and call clients on the housing
register.
Changes in circumstances
If a client contacts you about a change in circumstances or you have information that
may affect their eligibility for social housing you should advise the client to contact the
Centralised Unit Housing.
The Centralised Unit Housing will be responsible for reassessing a client’s circumstances.
If the client’s priority rating moves to a C or D they will no longer be eligible for social
housing and removed from the housing register.
More information about how specific changes in circumstances impact a client’s eligibility
is provided on page 47 (for someone on the social housing register) and page 19 (for a
tenant).
Removing clients from the social housing register
Clients will be removed from the social housing register in the following situations:






when they are housed in sustainable housing
a change in circumstances leads to a change in priority rating to C or D
failure to respond to the Ministry’s requests within 10 working days
failure or refusal to answer questions during an investigation
client has declined a property offer without a good and sufficient reason
at a client’s request.
Reinstating clients to the social housing register
Clients that have been removed from the social housing register can have their
application reinstated, with the same priority rating, within eight weeks of their removal
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in certain circumstances. This only applies if there have been no changes in
circumstances since the time of application.
Exception
Clients who have been removed from the social housing register after declining a
suitable property cannot have their application reinstated, they need to re-apply. Their
decision to decline a suitable property will be taken into account for 13 weeks after their
removal from the register.
Exceptions to the assessment process
Rheumatic fever fast-track
Fast-tracking is a new government initiative to prioritise and identify people who are
deemed most at risk of rheumatic fever. The intent is to find suitable housing as soon as
possible to address a health need. By prioritising these clients it is intended that the
number of hospitalisations for rheumatic fever will decline.
Screening and assessment for these clients will be completed in the usual way. A
Centralised Unit Housing Manager or Service Centre Manager is responsible for
approving fast-tracked clients.
Fast-tracked clients are given precedence for placement, regardless of the priority rating
of other clients. You will be able to identify these clients as they will display an ‘F’ in
additional to the priority rating.
Criteria for rheumatic fever fast-track
The Ministry is responsible for ensuring that clients and their households meet the
rheumatic fever policy criteria.
A client and/or their household must:






live in a specific North Island District Health Board area
have an ‘at risk’ or ‘serious need’ for social housing, that is an A or B priority rating
the household has more than one child residing in a house (does not have to be a
dependent child), and one of those children is aged 4 to 19 years
at least one of the children aged 0 to 14 years has been hospitalised with a qualifying
medical condition, while living in their current accommodation or in the past two
years or
has a child or young person aged 0 to 14 years who is still receiving treatment for a
previous case of rheumatic fever and
the household is lacking one or more bedrooms or the household is functionally
overcrowded (which, for example, can lead to unsafe sleeping practices).
List of District Health Boards
All fast-tracked clients must be located under the specified list of North Island District
Health Boards. These are:


Auckland District Health Board
Bay of Plenty District Health Board
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








Capital and Coast District Health Board
Counties Manukau District Health Board
Hawke’s Bay District Health Board
Hutt Valley District Health Board
Lakes District Health Board
Northland District Health Board
Tairawhiti District Health Board
Waikato District Health Board
Waitemata District Health Board.
Property offers
Property offers will be made in the usual way where clients can accept or decline in the
usual way.
For more information about fast-tracking clients please go to:
http://www.workandincome.govt.nz/map/social-housing/assessment-ofeligibility/introduction.html
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Appendix Five – Client has a change in
circumstances prior to becoming a tenant
Prior to becoming a tenant
A client must advise the Ministry of any change in circumstance that may impact their
eligibility prior to becoming a social housing tenant (while they are on the social housing
register) or during their time as a tenant.
This section provides an overview of how a change will be reviewed and any impacts to a
client’s eligibility for social housing or their rate of calculated Income Related Rent or
Income Related Rent Subsidy:
If a client/tenant or you need to discuss a change, contact the Centralised Unit Housing
for assistance.
For more information visit the Work and Income website to view the Ministry’s Manuals
and Procedures (MAP). This provides comprehensive information about Work and Income
policy, programmes and services. Go to http://www.workandincome.govt.nz/manualsand-procedures/social_housing/index.htm.
Reviewing changes (prior to the client becoming a
tenant)
Common changes that lead to a review of the client’s eligibility to be placed into social
housing are described in the following table:
Type of change in
circumstances
Reason for review
Permanent address change – client’s eligibility for social
housing will be affected. They may no longer have a
housing need.
Change of address
Consideration needs to be given to the type of housing the
client is moving into. For example, risk of overcrowding,
may actually increase the urgency for housing.
Temporary address – the client may still have a housing
need but urgency for social housing may be low.
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Type of change in
circumstances
Reason for review
Eligibility may be impacted depending on:

Child changes


effect on family composition, for example single to sole
parent
whether the child has special needs
impact on current housing for example, an additional
child may contribute to chronic overcrowding or current
accommodation may be unsuitable for small children.
Change to relationship
status
Partner moves out or moves in – clients may still be
eligible for social housing but their circumstances will be
reviewed to determine this.
Employment/Income
changes
Eligibility and priority may be affected depending on
whether employment is permanent or temporary and the
level of change to income. The income threshold and the
ability of the client to afford rental accommodation in the
private housing market will be considered.
Change to client’s health
status
Priority for social housing and the accommodation type
may need to be reviewed. For example, a health condition,
injury or disability may increase urgency for social
housing.
It could also mean that the client has no immediate need
due to hospitalisation or alternative housing arrangements
are being made.
Benefit cancellation or
suspension
The outcome of a review of the client’s circumstances will
depend on the reason for suspension or cancellation.
Benefit transfer
A benefit transfer in itself is not likely to affect eligibility.
The reason for the benefit transfer may indicate when a
client should have their housing needs reviewed. For
example, a client who is granted a Supported Living
Payment because of a health condition may require a
modified property.
Benefit grants
The results of the affordability part of the assessment may
change, altering the client’s priority rating.
Other circumstances
Some changes will require the Ministry to manage changes in circumstances differently
for specific situations.
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Absence from New Zealand
Clients on the housing register who are going to be temporarily absent from New
Zealand are required to advise the Ministry of their absence and provide:


their reasons for travel
departure and return dates.
Clients leaving New Zealand permanently will be removed from the social housing
register. Clients leaving New Zealand temporarily will have their application status
updated to ‘on hold’ unless they have appointed an agent to act on their behalf with the
Ministry whilst they are out of the country.
This in no way implies that an agent can act for the client for property offers. Clients who
leave New Zealand and remain on the social housing register will be sent a letter asking
them to confirm their circumstances.
Clients returning to New Zealand will need to contact the Ministry to confirm their return
and that there are no changes in circumstances. ‘On hold’ applications will be placed on
the register if clients continue to be eligible.
Short-term changes
In the following situations, applications will remain on the social housing register if
clients have an agent to act on their behalf with the Ministry for housing register
management purposes:



client imprisoned for 30 days or less days
single client hospitalised for less than 30 days
short-term residential care.
Death of a client
Following the death of a single client, Centralised Unit Housing will close the application.
In situations where a client was a sole parent or joint applicant for social housing, a
letter will be sent to the next of kin or other applicants to provide them with an
opportunity to make contact to talk about the next steps in meeting their current
housing needs (where applicable).
Applications will be closed after 10 days if there is no response to the letter.
Client is now a tenant
Once a client has been placed into housing and officially becomes a tenant the change in
circumstances is reviewed differently because it is no longer based on their eligibility for
social housing.
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Appendix Six – Placement Process
Community Housing Provider Placement Process
Creating a vacancy
Vacancy is submitted for MSD
Contracts approval
Shortlist
Securing the tenancy
View application details
BOS
Advise the Ministry if the client
needs rent and bond in
advance
BOS
BOS
Yes
Not required
Assess eligibility
(contact the client)
MSD Contracts approves
vacancy
Request more information
about application
BOS
Start Hardship Application
Notification is sent to the
provider
Request referral
BOS
BOS
Client
eligible
Client not
eligible*
Referral approved
BOS
Accept Offer
BOS
Contact client with property
offer
Receive task to grant financial
assistance
KEY
Provider
Community Housing
Provider action
Contracts
MSD Contracts Team
action
CUH
System
BOS
Client
accepts
property
offer
Client
declines
property
offer
Complete Hardship
Application
Centralised Unit Housing
action
System action
Refer to Business Online
Services User Guide
Add outcome of property offer
BOS
Tenancy is activated
BOS
*Client may be able to source payment from other means
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Appendix Seven – Restrictions on file
attachments
You will be able to upload file attachments using Business Online Services. For security
reasons, the following restrictions apply:




file attachments are limited to 10Mb.
file attachment content is NOT executable (ie doesn’t run like a
program)
File type/extension is restricted to .csv,.doc,.docx,.xls,.xlsx.,png,.jpeg,.gif,.tif
.pdf,.txt,.text,.rft,.odt file name extensions
File name is restricted to alpha numeric characters & limited to 50 characters in
length.
If you do not follow these guidelines the upload will fail.
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Appendix Eight – Key contacts
For vacancies and market rent issues contact:
Contact
Contact details
Social Housing National Contracts
Email: [email protected]
For relationship management, risk, issues or any contract specific processes:
Contact
Contact details
Sharleen Alaifea
Mobile: 029 252 3408
Email: [email protected]
For assistance with your RealMe account (e.g. locating your user name,
resetting your password):
Contact
Contact details
Online Services
Phone: 0800 559 009
Please say ‘Online Services’ when prompted,
so your call is directed to an appropriate
person
For queries including issues relating to the Business Online Services
application:
Contact
Contact details
Centralised Unit Housing
Email:
[email protected]
If you require clarification of any client focussed processes:
Contact name
Contact details
Primary contact:
Brinal Gonsalves
Service Manager Centralised Unit
Housing
Mobile: 029 2006095
Landline: 09 369 8707
Email: [email protected]
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Secondary contact:
Glenn Desa
Service Manager Centralised Unit
Housing
Mobile: 029 2372765
Landline: 09 369 8724
Email: [email protected]
To report suspected child abuse:
Contact
Contact details
Child, Youth and Family
Phone: 0508 FAMILY (0508 326 459)
Contact details for general enquiries:
Contact
Contact details
Work and Income
Phone: 0800 559 009
Senior Services (for over 65s)
Phone: 0800 552 002
StudyLink (for students)
Phone: 0800 889 900
Contact details when escalation is required:
Contact
Contact details
Requesting a review of these
guidelines:
Jeremy Wilson
General Manager Housing
Email: [email protected]
Compliance with approving market
rent rates, Contracts issues or the
Privacy Act:
William Barris
Issues with Centralised Unit
Housing:
Lindsay Meehan
National Manager Contacts
Email: [email protected]
General Manager Centralised Services
Email: [email protected]
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Additional contact details for the Ministry:
Contact
Contact details
For media enquiries:
Phone: 04 916 3496
Fax: 04 918 0066
Email: [email protected]
For Official Information Act
requests:
For Ministerial correspondence or
enquiries
Email: [email protected]
Email: [email protected]
Emergency Housing Line:
Contact
For enquiries if you are working
with people who need emergency
housing
Contact details
Phone: 0800 559 244
Emergency Housing Line
If you have a client who needs emergency housing but who also is on, or who needs to
be on, the social housing register please the Emergency Housing line to check client’s
status and make sure that the information we have is up to date.
If you want to use this service you’ll need to get permission from the client to talk with
us about their situation. There are two ways you can do this:


for urgent enquiries call us when you have the client with you. The client will
need to give verbal permission for you to speak with us about their circumstances
if you think you will need to talk with us again about the client, the client will
need to complete an ‘Appointment of Agent’ form and drop it off at your nearest
MSD service centre. Alternatively, you can email a scanned copy to
[email protected].
Note: verbal permission will only be considered for that particular call. For any ongoing
discussions please complete the ‘Appointment of Agent’ form.
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Appendix Nine – Password rules
NZISM 2015 complexity rules for passwords:


a minimum password length of 16 characters with no complexity requirement;
or
a minimum password length of ten characters, consisting of at least three of the
following character sets:
o
lowercase characters (a-z);
o
uppercase characters (A-Z);
o
digits (0-9); and
o
punctuation and special characters
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Appendix Ten – Reporting suspected fraud
The website for reporting suspected housing fraud is:
www.msd.govt.nz/form/msd/govt/nz/form.req?requestType=msd-govt-nz-select-form
Select ‘Social Housing fraud allegation’ from the drop down, then click ‘Go’.
You must include an email address and confirm that you have read the Privacy
Statement.
Helpful information for you to include:







your name and contact phone number tenant’s full name, client number (if
known), address
tenant’s partner name and client number (if known)
the type of fraud you suspect – this could include an undeclared partner, underdeclared income, the information supplied on their application differs from their
tenancy agreement or sub-letting. This is not an exhaustive list.
details of why you suspect fraud
how you have become aware of this information
whether or not you have raised this with the tenant and their response if
applicable
any other information about the tenant or other members of the household.
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Appendix Eleven – Business Online Services
templates
We have provided you with some templates that you can use when contacting the
Ministry via Business Online Services. When contacting the Centralised Unit Housing via
email please ensure not to include any client details, these templates are only to be used
in Business Online Services.
Referrals
Change in circumstances identified
The following client has advised of a change in their circumstances during the
referral process:
Client’s name:
Client number:
Date of birth:
Contact number:
Details of the change in circumstances:
Comments:
General enquiry (manage referrals)
Client’s name:
Client number:
Date of birth:
Contact number:
Enquiry:
Comments:
Request Financial Assistance
Client’s name:
Client number:
Date of birth:
Contact number:
Rent in advance required ($):
Bond required ($):
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Comments:
Tenancies
Change of Address (property address has changed, eg from 5 Main Street to
5A Main Street, suburb boundary change etc)
Client’s name:
Client number:
Date of birth:
Reason for change:
Client Change
Client’s name:
Client number:
Date of birth:
Contact number:
Type of change: [select one; Personal or contact details, change to medical or
disability information, absence from NZ, imprisonment, longer-term
hospitalisation or residential care, death and changes to a specific client’s risk]
Details of the change:
Comments:
General Enquiry
Client’s name:
Date of birth:
Contact number:
Enquiry:
Comments:
Household Change
Client’s name:
Date of birth:
Contact number:
Type of change: [select one; Tenant or additional occupant has left the
household, a person’s role in the relationship has changed or risk information
about the household needs to be updated]
Details of the change:
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Date of change:
Comments:
Join-in Assessment
This is to confirm our conditional agreement to the join-in request made by the
following tenant. Their prospective tenant’s details are shown below.
Details of current tenant
Client’s name:
Date of birth:
Client number:
Contact number:
Details of person (prospective tenant) who wants to sign the tenancy
agreement
Full name:
Date of Birth:
Client number (if known):
Contact number:
Current Address:
Relationship to the tenant:
Please provide the below listed details for all other people conditionally approved
as part of the Join-in request (e.g. partner, dependent children or other adults).
If not applicable enter N/A.
Name:
Date of birth:
Provider Initiated Transfer
Client has transferred to another property within our stock:
Tenant’s name:
Client number:
Date of birth:
Contact number:
Tenancy reference:
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Tenancy end date:
New tenancy address:
New tenancy reference:
Vacancy reference:
Transfer date:
Payment reference (if known):
Comments:
Rent Arrears
Client is due an income-related rent refund; the Ministry will send you the
‘Request for rent arrears information form’ via Business Online Services to
confirm if any rent is owed for the same period.
You will need to update the form, scan and return it via Business Online
Services.
Rent Arrears Redirection
Client name:
Rent owed:
Rent redirection amount to be set-up per week/fortnight:
Risk Please refer to ‘Advise the Ministry of household risk and household
member risk information’ for examples
Does the risk relate to a household member? If yes, who (name):
What is the household member risk information you would like to report:
Does the risk relate to a household (premises) If yes, what is the risk:
Other Risk:
Transfer Assessment
Please confirm the housing requirements for the following tenant:
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Tenant’s name:
Client number:
Date of birth:
Contact number:
Comments: (this may relate to the client’s bedroom requirements or property
modification needs)
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Appendix Twelve – Key steps in responding to
privacy breaches
The purpose of these key steps is to provide guidance when a privacy breach occurs. A
privacy breach is the result of unauthorised access to or collection, use or disclosure of,
personal information. In this context, "unauthorised" means in contravention of the
Privacy Act 1993.
There are four key steps to consider when responding to a breach or suspected breach.
Where a suspected or actual privacy breach of client information occurs, the Ministry’s
Contracts team will work alongside you to consider each step and take appropriate
action.
As every situation is different, discussion will need to occur between the Ministry’s
Contracts team and yourself to determine who will do what as you work through the
Privacy breach process. At a minimum, for every suspected or actual privacy incident
your responsibilities as a provider are to:

Report – ensure that any of your employees who discover a suspected or actual
privacy incident immediately notify their supervisor or manager and report it to the
Ministry’s Contracts team

Recover – the confidential or personal information if possible, or otherwise contain
the incident to lessen the impacts the client and implications for the yourself and the
Ministry

Remediate – the information incident:
 by working collaboratively with the Contracts team and the Investigation
team
 by supporting the investigation to determine the specifics of the privacy
incident and resolve it
 by notifying individuals or parties affected by the incident, as directed by
the Contracts team

Prevent – further privacy incidents by:
 ensuring that employees know and understand how to apply changes in
the handling of confidential or personal information
 being diligent in the handling of confidential or personal information
 implementing any recommendations from the investigation
 developing a culture for the prudent management of information, including
by providing training
 ensuring employees understand their responsibility in reporting
information incidents, including containing the loss and/or recovering the
information.
•
More information about the key steps agencies should follow when responding to an
actual or suspected privacy breach please refer to the Privacy Breach Guidelines on the
Privacy Commissioners website: https://www.privacy.org.nz/news-andpublications/guidance-resources/privacy-breach-guidelines-2/
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