Assessment of need for multiple household unit

Sometimes 2 or more families apply for social housing together.

They may do this if they are reuniting through refugee family reunification or one family might need extra support. In other situations it may simply be choice or convenience.

To have a family unit nominated as household number 2, at least one adult member of the second household must agree to sign the tenancy agreement (and a signatory to the tenancy agreement).

The housing need of the household is assessed together.

For more information see:

• Examples of more than one household unit

When 2 household units apply for social housing together an assessment of their housing need is undertaken as one household. The joint assessment will determine whether the household is at risk (priority A) or has a serious housing need (priority B) and eligible for social housing.

Note the assessment to determine the household's housing need across the 5 areas is considered holistically. It is not undertaken separately for each household unit. This includes the income and asset thresholds - these limits do not change even though there is more than one household.

In some situations a joint housing application may be the only factor that creates the need for social housing, for example the number of bedrooms needed to house the families makes alternative housing inaccessible.

In this situation, you need to establish whether there is a valid reason for multiple household units to be housed together.

This may be as they have a specific and established need to live together as a household, usually because the households have a dependency on each other. For example:

• elderly parent or grandparent (aged over 65 years)
• non-dependent child or other adult with a physical or mental health disability requiring care and support at home
• carer or support person

If there is a need for them to be housed together, an assessment of their housing need is undertaken as one household. If a need for the two households to live together is not established, they should make separate applications for social housing.

A client can apply for a Review of Decision when they have received formal notification of (and do not agree with) the outcome of the eligibility assessment.