Look after your public housing home

Introduction

These pages are for public housing tenants and has information on how to look after your home.

When you moved into your public housing home you signed a tenancy agreement which included details of your rights and responsibilities as a tenant.

Some of your responsibilities include:

  • keeping your home clean and tidy
  • reporting all repairs and maintenance requests as soon as possible
  • understanding your home will be regularly inspected.

You are responsible for looking after your house and reporting repairs when they are needed.

Cleaning guide

For tips on cleaning your home, get the looking after your house fact sheet.


Cleaning checklist for your public housing home

You are responsible for keeping your public housing home clean.

Cleaning your house regularly helps keep your family healthy.

Your local housing officer will check how clean your house is during regular inspections.

Cleaning to do every day

Kitchens, benches and sinks, and empty inside rubbish bins. 

Cleaning to do every week

You should clean all of the following:

  • bathrooms
  • toilet
  • floors
  • dusting. 

Cleaning to do every month

You should clean or check all of the following:

  • stove and oven
  • cupboards and shelving
  • fans
  • windows and lourves
  • walls, doors, light switches and power points. 

Cleaning products and tools

Toilet cleaning products

You can use toilet cleaner and disinfectant. White vinegar is also an effective cleaner and is cheap to buy and safe to use.

Every room cleaning products

Vinegar and bicarb soda are cheap, good cleaning products.

You can buy products made to clean particular things, such as ovens, windows, showers, bathrooms and floors. 

Read the cleaning instructions for safety. 

Always keep these products in a locked cupboard or high off the ground so young children cannot get to them. Most cleaning can be done with white vinegar which is cheap to buy and safe to use.

Cleaning cloths

So you don’t spread germs, always use one cleaning cloth in the kitchen, a different one in the bathroom and a different one on the floor and walls.

Using different coloured cloths will help people remember where each cloth can be used.


Windows, walls and fans

Windows and louvres

Clean all windows regularly.

Report any cracked or chipped glass.

Don't let anyone or your pets put holes in fly screens or security screens.

Walls, doors, light switches and power points

Wipe dirty marks off walls, doors and cupboards.

Dust all the light switches and power points. If they are dirty you can wipe them with a cloth.

Don't put water on them or spray cleaning liquid on them.

Fans

Clean the fan blades regularly with a wet cloth.

Fans work better when the blades are clean.

Don’t let children or anyone else swing on the fan and bend the blades.


Looking after your kitchen

Benches and sinks

You should clean your kitchen benches and sink every day.

Wipe kitchen benches and sinks, especially after you have been preparing food.

Remember, do not use the kitchen cloth anywhere else so germs do not spread.

Stove and oven

Clean the stove and oven. Make sure all the food and grease is removed.

Cupboards and shelving

Wipe out cupboards and shelving, especially ones that you keep food in – this will help stop pests and bugs such as cockroaches.

Food in cupboards should be kept in closed containers or sealed bags.

Tighten screws if the door handles are loose. You can use a screw driver or butter knife to do this.

Sink

Wipe out the sink regularly.

Don’t put any food or other items down the drain as this will block it.


Cleaning your bathroom and toilet

Bathrooms and toilets must be kept clean and well maintained. This will stop mould growing and germs spreading.

Don't use the cloth you clean the bathroom with anywhere else in the house.

Basin

Wipe basins out regularly. Using a cleaning agent to remove stubborn dirt. 

Don't put any rubbish or items down the drain.

Remove hairs form the drain regularly so it doesn't get blocked.

Shower and bath

Clean around the taps.

Wipe the bath and the shower walls.

If there is mould, use white vinegar or a bathroom cleaner.

Remove hairs from the drain regularly so it doesn’t get blocked.

Don’t put any rubbish or items down the drain.

Toilet

Scrub the toilet with a brush and disinfectant or toilet cleaner to stop germs from spreading.

Wipe over the outside of the toilet and cistern with a cloth and disinfectant.

Don't flush anything down the toilet except for toilet paper.

You must put everything else in the bin - like nappies, rubbish or personal products.

Floors

Sweep and mop bathroom floors daily.

Wipe up spills or slippery areas immediately.

Make sure the floor drain is not covered up.

Remove hairs and any other rubbish regularly from the floor drain.

Remember to rinse and dry the mop after it is used to stop mould growing.

Rails and fixtures such as soap holders

Wipe with a cloth.

Check they are not loose or slippery.


Looking after your laundry

Laundry tub 

Wipe tub out regularly.

Keep the tub clean and clear of rubbish.

Do not put any items down the drain.

Floor drain 

Make sure the floor drain is not covered up.

Remove hairs and any other rubbish from the floor drain regularly.

Washing machine

You must supply and maintain your own washing machine.

Before you use the washing machine, make sure the hose is put into the hole so the dirty water can drain away and not go on the floor.

If there is no hole for the hose, put the hose in the laundry tub and make sure it won’t fall out. 

Most hoses have a round plastic bend on them to help stay attached to the side of the sink.


Electricity meters and hot-water systems

Find information below about electricity and hot water systems in your public housing home.

Electricity meters

If an electricity meter is installed at your home, it's your responsibility as the tenant to buy tokens to operate the meter.

You should not touch or change the meter.

Broken electricity meters

A broken electricity meter affects the essential power supply to your home.

The Department of Territory Families, Housing and Communities is your landlord and needs to know when a meter is broken so it can be fixed as soon as possible.

If your meter gets broken, tell your nearest housing officer straight away.

If there's no housing office in your community, you can tell a:

  • tenancy contract officer
  • community housing officer
  • housing maintenance officer
  • essential services officer
  • government employment coordinator.

To report your broken meter, see the phone numbers listed at the bottom of this page.

Who pays for a broken meter

If the tenant, a family member or an invited visitor breaks the electricity meter on purpose, then the tenant of the house has to pay for it to get fixed.

If you can prove that the damage was criminal and caused by someone else, the department will fix the meter and put the power back on.

Criminal damage

If someone else breaks the meter at your house on purpose, you should go to the local police station and report it straight away.

Tell the police you need these documents:

  • a police case summary report which names the Department of Territory Families, Housing and Communities as the victims of the damage
  • a copy of the statement you gave to police.

If there are no police in your community, go to your regional council office, your housing reference group person or the essential services officer and tell them what happened.

Solar hot water system

If you have a solar hot water system, the panels are installed on the roof.

If it has been cloudy or rainy, the water might not heat up enough.

If the water is not hot enough, you will have to turn on the booster switch to heat the water.

Types of booster switches

There are two types of booster switches.

If the water is not hot enough, the orange light will come on.

Only press the booster switch if the orange light is on.

If the water is not hot enough, press the red button.

The red light will go off when the water is hot again.

Contact

If your meter is broken, call Power and Water on 1800 245 092.

If you live in Darwin or a regional town, you can also call your local housing office below:

If you live in a remote community

If you live in a remote community, call the Department of Territory Families, Housing and Communities  on 1800 104 076.


Light bulbs and smoke alarms

Smoke alarms

Maintaining your smoke alarm is important as they help keep your family safe in a fire.

Some smoke alarms have batteries and you will need to replace them when they run out or go flat. 

You should clean smoke alarms regularly and report any damage to your smoke alarms. 

If your smoke alarm is beeping report to your officer or local housing maintenance officer. 

Light bulbs

You have to replace light bulbs and fluorescent tubes when they don’t work.

You can buy spare light bulbs and fluorescent tubes at your local shop.

There are many different types of light bulbs, so make sure you know what type you need.

How to change a light bulb

To change the light bulb follow these steps.

1. Before removing the old bulb make sure the switch is turned off. 

2. Remove the old light bulb or fluorescent tube. 

3. Put the old bulb or tube in the bin straight away.

4. Fit the new bulb or tube. Do not over-tighten or press on the bulb too much as it might break.

5. Turn on the light to make sure it works.

Types of light bulbs and tubes

Bayonet

These bulbs have two prongs on the side of the base. They are fitted by pushing them up into the socket and turning half a turn to the right. These bulbs are expensive to run and blow easily.

Edison screw 

These bulbs do not have prongs and are screwed into the socket. They are called incandescent. They are expensive to run. 

Energy saving

You can replace your bulbs with energy saving bulbs which use less electricity but give the same amount of light. They are more expensive to buy but last a lot longer and are cheaper to use.


Bugs and pests in your home

You must keep pests in your public housing home under control, such as cockroaches, ants, insects, ticks, fleas, mice and rats.

You must do all of the following: 

  • keep your home clean
  • keep the lawn mowed and yard neat and tidy
  • put rubbish in the bin and make sure the bin is emptied and cleaned regularly
  • make sure food that is in the cupboard is in sealed containers or bags
  • don’t store, eat or cook food in bedrooms
  • keep doors closed and make sure flyscreens do not have holes
  • keep your animals/pets outside and make sure they don’t have ticks and fleas.

You can use an insect spray to help get rid of bugs around your home.

Follow the instructions carefully as these chemicals can be dangerous if not used properly.

If you have problems with large numbers of bugs and pests, contact your local housing maintenance officer or department of housing officer to talk about the options to remove the pests. 

Find your local housing office.


Look after your public housing yard

You must look after your public housing yard. Keep the lawn short and mow it regularly. Pull out the weeds and put them in the bin.

Plants

You can plant shrubs, bushes and flowers in your yard, however it is your responsibility to look after them. 

All plants must be two metres from the house and one metre from the fence line to help stop damage to the fence and white ant damage.

Clothes line

Every house has a clothes line.

Don’t hang anything heavy on the line and don’t let people swing from the clothes line.

This will break the clothes line and you will be responsible for paying for the repairs.

Rubbish

You must keep your yard clear of rubbish. 

Put all the rubbish in the wheelie bin. 

Your local council provides each house with a rubbish bin or wheelie bin that should be kept outside the house.

You can keep small bins inside but make sure you empty them regularly into the wheelie bin.

Remember to put the wheelie bin out on bin day so it can be emptied.

To keep flies and maggots out of your bin, keep the lid closed all the time and wash the bin out each time it is emptied.

Don’t leave old car bodies in your yard. 

If you need help getting large items such as car bodies or old appliances out of the yard ask your local shire council for advice.