Darwin, Palmerston and Coolalinga - Affordable Housing Scheme - Provision of Tenancy and Property Management Services for a Period of 24 Months

The Department of Territory Families, Housing and Communities (Department) manages a suite of housing initiatives that includes the Affordable Housing Scheme (AHS). The AHS was established to provide affordable housing to Territorians on low-to-middle incomes who are employed in key service industries.

Under the AHS, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) (Housing) entered into long-term headlease agreements with private owners for residential dwellings across Darwin, Alice Springs, and Tennant Creek. 

Head leased dwellings are sub-tenanted to eligible tenants at 70 per cent of the annual market rental rate with CEO (Housing) as the landlord under the Residential Tenancies Act 1999 (NT) (Act).

There are 320 AHS dwellings within the Greater Darwin Region. 

137 AHS dwellings have National Rental Affordability Scheme (NRAS) incentives attached, which require specific eligibility assessment and Commonwealth reporting requirements to be met. 

The Department requires a managing agent to manage the dwellings and carry out the Property Management Services obligations of CEO (Housing) under the headlease agreements.

Property Management Services include (but is not limited to):

1.      Property Management Service for management of subtenancies with the managing agent acting on behalf of CEO (Housing) as the landlord under the Act. 

2.      Repair and Maintenance Service for coordination of repairs and maintenance including cyclical maintenance and determining responsibility.

3.      Emergency Repair Service including afterhours contractor availability.

4.      Restoration Service including coordination of restoration works for expiring headleases if applicable.

In addition, the Department requires a managing agent that understands with the capacity to provide regular detailed reporting, respond to ad-hoc information requests, coordinate subtenancy lease dates to align with headlease expiry dates and work proactively to ensure that CEO (Housing) obligations under the headlease and the Act are always met. 

The successful proponent must be a licensed Real Estate Agent as per the definitions and requirements of the Agents Licensing Act 1979 (NT), or a Community Housing Provider (CHP) exempt from this requirement by being registered with the National Regulatory System for Community Housing (NRSCH), operating in the Northern Territory and with demonstrated experience performing professional property and tenancy management services on behalf of a landlord. Registration as a licensed Real Estate Agent and/or NRSCH registered CHP must be maintained for the duration of the contract.

The successful proponent must adhere to the AHS program guidelines, including required forms and templates, for successful program delivery. 

Ongoing compliance assessments will be undertaken to ensure ongoing standards of delivery.

The contract must commence on 26 April 2024 for a period of two years.