Megan is a Perth public housing tenant. Her neighbours are making her life hell
Megan* is a public housing tenant in Cloverdale.
She came to live at the small, well-kept home after she spent time in a women’s refuge a few years ago, after escaping an abusive relationship.
Her home is airy and neat, and she is glowing about the local community.
“It’s nice. We have a WhatsApp group … if someone’s parcel gets delivered to the wrong house, you can pop it in there and ask ‘is this yours’?,” she says.
“Another time, a neighbour’s dog passed away, so we all had a barbecue down by the river to celebrate their life.
But, she says, her quiet pocket of Cloverdale was upended a few years ago when she got a new neighbour in the public housing block next to hers.
“It just changed the whole atmosphere of the street,” she says.
Megan said the problems started almost immediately.
Rubbish bins on the street would frequently overflow, and sheets were strung up in the front yard’s carport. Strange men would come to the address at all hours of the day – occasionally knocking on her front door after mixing up the address. Cars were parked out the front of the home with missing licence plates and paint stripped off, and people started doing drugs openly on the street.
Over time, Megan’s neighbours say they have reported the tenants for dealing drugs, breaking in to neighbour’s cars and homes, and even for abusing their own children. Often, those reports had to be directed to WA police.
“[There’s a] little girl there who has some fair developmental problems,” Megan says.
“The abuse [the tenant] is inflicting on her has had me in tears.”
She even recalls a time she was standing in her own backyard when a woman at the property thought she overheard Megan gossiping. She attempted to climb the fence, telling Megan she would kill her, causing her to phone the police.
Unfortunately for Brent*, a next door neighbour of Megan’s, he has also had to call the authorities when dealing with the tenants.
“It’s deteriorated so badly,” he said.
“There are people moving in and out, and we don’t even know who they are … you’ve got four kids living in a two-bedroom house, and they’ve got people coming and going and staying at night.
“It’s not healthy.
“I’ve got a baby who is two years old. I don’t want them seeing this.”
Brent says he has phoned the Department of Housing’s disruptive behaviour team about “four or five” times over the years but says he feels he has effectively been discouraged from making an official complaint. He says he was often told to direct his frustrations to police.
“It is absolutely frustrating … . they demotivate you in any possible way from even talking to them,” Brent says.
He says in his view, the police and the department rarely communicate and as a result, problem tenants are hide to identify.
It is an experience shared by Megan, who says she has made similar complaints to the Department of Housing over the years.
“I’ve given up a little bit,” she says.
“I just try to make peace. I’ve also got a disability, so the stress of it all is just – to me – too much.”
Instead, she has installed security cameras all around her property and when it becomes too bad, she goes away to stay with a friend.
She says ultimately, she is concerned other public housing tenants like her are missing out on homes in favour of people like her neighbour.
“My best friend – she is a single mum with a baby. If she could have had one of these homes, and she would have cherished it,” Megan says.
Brent agrees.
“My old next door neighbour … she is a pensioner and her ceiling collapsed. She has had to move out,” he says.
“The [house she is now renting], the rent is so high she can’t even afford to actually feed herself, let alone all the bills and everything.
“Some of the neighbours were actually supporting her with a bit of groceries … but she deserves a house.”
Brent says he has now decided to move out and sell their family home over the ongoing problem.
“I wanted to live there my whole life,” he says.
“I would like to ask the Minister – would you live next to that sort of neighbour? Would you raise your kids next to this neighbour, where you see antisocial behaviour day in day out, and drugs, and all this actually happening right in front of your house?”
Minister John Carey says it is absolutely crucial locals report problems with the department for them to act.
“Our government is committed to integrating social and affordable housing across all communities, with a number of large scale build to rent projects underway in my electorate,” he says.
”We are the landlord for some of the most vulnerable in our society, and I expect all tenants to adhere to their obligations and respect their neighbours.
“The Department of Housing and Works works closely with tenants and external support agencies to manage tenancy issues and support tenants to sustain their tenancy, where possible.
“Complaints must be made to the department’s disruptive behaviour reporting line in order for any disruptive behaviour to be investigated.
“Where there is serious or ongoing disruptive behaviour, the department is committed to taking action.”
However, Carey highlighted that there are restrictions in the department’s power.
“The decision to evict ultimately sits with the magistrate, who will only grant an order for vacant possession if they are satisfied that there has been a breach of the tenancy agreement, and that the tenant has been given every opportunity to rectify the breach and has failed to do so,” he says.
“The department is not a law enforcement agency and any criminal behaviour should be reported to the police.”
Which, Brent says, is the problem.
*Megan and Brent’s names have been changed to protect them from reprisal.
Hannah Murphy is a journalist with WAtoday covering breaking and general news. She previously worked for the ABC in the state’s Kimberley region.Connect via email.
