Social housing tenants who deliberately damage their houses will be forced to pay a rental bond under stringent new rules designed to stamp out bad behaviour in public housing.

Minister for Social Housing Pru Goward said the bond requirement would lead to a fairer social housing system.  

“The majority of public housing tenants do the right thing and have the right to a fairer system - free from wreckers giving good tenants a bad name and those who expect the taxpayer to cough up the bill,” Ms Goward said. 

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But Alcheringa Street resident Eric Satchel said while the reforms are a good start, they don't go far enough.

"I'm not sure how a bond will make bad tenants responsible for their actions and those of their children, because a bond might not cover the cost of all the damage they cause," he said.

"I don't know if this will work because I know a few houses that people have damaged and then they've done a midnight run, so they'd never get the money for repairs off them.

"But it might help reduce the damage to houses in our area because it may force some to think twice before they wreck a house.

"It's a good start, but I'd ask the government to go further by making tenants financially responsible for any and all damage they do at the time they do it."

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Ms Goward said the bond payment would only apply to tenants who have caused deliberate and significant damage to their public housing property.  

"This bond will stop intentional damage and create an incentive for behavioural change by making those who wreck their homes pay a bond which can be drawn on if they carry out further damage, just as would happen in the private market," she said. 

"Repairing intentionally damaged properties diverted much-needed funds from essential maintenance work.  

“It can cost tens of thousands of dollars to fix a house after it has been damaged and deserted by a tenant.

“This is money that would otherwise be spent on routine social housing maintenance.”  

Mr Satchell said the government also needs to act on tenants who damage other residents’ homes.

“My home has been broken into 15 times in the last ten years and crime in the street, by people who live here, has been going on for years,” he said. “These gangs roam the street and break into people’s homes and do other damage; it doesn’t matter if it is in broad daylight or at night, nothing seems to bother them.”

Bonds can be paid in instalments over 24 to 36 months.