Being a good neighbour

You, your household and your visitors should not disturb your neighbours and they should not disturb you.

You must not interfere with the peace and enjoyment of the neighbourhood.

You may be evicted if you do not respect your neighbours' rights.

Keep the noise down

Keep noise down, especially late at night and early in the morning. This includes music, construction, air conditioners and lawn mowers.

You must follow Canberra’s rules about when you can make noise.

Look after children and visitors

Children have a right to play and be safe. Make sure they don't go onto other people's property.

Respect other people's privacy

It's good to have a friendly chat with your neighbours but remember that most people like their privacy.

Keep the place looking nice

If you live in a house, you need to keep the house and yard looking tidy. This includes:

• keeping the yard free of appliances, cars or other household items
• mowing the lawn
• putting your bins out.

Rules for shared spaces

If you live in an apartment or unit, you’ll share common areas with other people.

Your lease has rules about common areas. You must not leave items in common areas where they block access or cause a health or safety hazard.

Stairwells

You must not store your belongings or rubbish in a stairwell because it is a fire hazard.

Rubbish bin and skips

You can use the shared rubbish bins and skips for your household waste.

You cannot put furniture or mattresses in these bins.

Laundry and washing machines

You might have shared washing machines if your flat or unit does not have an area for a washing machine. You must leave the shared laundry clean.

Car parking space

You should get one parking space. You can only park in your parking space. You must not store household items or rubbish in your parking space.

Cars parked in your parking space must:

• work
• be kept locked
• be safe.

Community rooms

If your block of units has a community room, you and other groups who live there can use it.

Read about Community rooms for Housing ACT tenants.

Looking after common areas

If you live in a complex that we own, we will maintain the common areas.

If you notice a maintenance issue in a common area, contact Programmed.

If you live in a block we do not own

A body corporate will look after the common areas. When you sign your lease you’ll find out if you have a body corporate.

If you notice an issue in a common area, tell your housing manager. Your housing manager will tell the body corporate.

If the body corporate contacts you about the building, tell your housing manager as soon as possible.

Help with neighbourhood disputes

If you have a problem with a neighbour, the first thing you could do is talk to them. You may be able to work together to find a compromise that makes you both happy.

If the problem continues, it is a good idea to keep a record of what and when it is happening. This may help if you need to take legal action.

If the problem is serious, like a crime or if you’re being harassed call the police on 131 444.

If you can’t reach an agreement with your neighbour, you can:

• contact the free Conflict Resolution Service for help
• contact the ACT Legal Aid Office for legal advice about neighbourhood disputes and the Tenants Advice Service.

Complain to Housing ACT

We cannot resolve neighbourhood disputes, but we will investigate when a public housing lease is breached. This usually involves:

• illegal structures
• unapproved home businesses
• unauthorised tenants or subletting
• poorly maintained grounds.

If you think this is happening in public housing, you can contact us at Housing ACT about the problem. You must tell us:

• the name and address of the person causing the problem
• your name and telephone number so that we can get more details if needed.

Make a complaint

To complain to Housing ACT, you can:

• call 02 6207 1515
• email Housing.Complaints@act.gov.au
• post to Locked Bag 3000, Belconnen ACT 2617.

If you can't get your complaint resolved, or you're not happy with the outcome, you can complain to the Community Services Directorate.

Other complaints

Complaints handled by other ACT Government departments include:

• Criminal activity: Australian Federal Police on 131 444 or Crimestoppers ACT
• Noise: make a noise complaint to Access Canberra
• Animal complaints: Domestic Animal Services or 13 22 81
• Child concern reports: Child and Youth Protections Services or 1300 556 729
• Nature strips (except in multi-unit) roads and paths: Access Canberra 132281 or Fix My Street