A MOUNT Gambier elderly woman says she feels gutted Housing SA has slugged her hundreds of dollars for repairs, which she claims is general maintenance never undertaken by the authority.
Dawn Walker – who has been battling Parkinson’s disease for nearly 10 years – spent thousands of dollars of her own money installing ceiling fans, new carpet and blinds in the Derrington Street unit over her 20 year tenancy.
Clutching a $440 bill, the 74-year-old said she was stunned that she had been charged to fix “peeling ceiling paint” and the removal of professionally fitted Venetian blinds.
“Do they think I scrapped paint of the ceiling – this whole situation just seems unfair,” Ms Walker said.
“Some Housing SA tenants damage their properties, but I looked after mine.
“I feel like I am being punished.”
She claimed the social housing authority undertook no refurbishment or maintenance of the unit during her long term tenancy and had done little to help her stay in the property given her health problems.
“I went over to the Mount Gambier office to say I was upset because I had looked after the property. I told them ` I did not go out to wreck the place’,” Ms Walker said.
“They have even charged me to replace the screen mesh door. I did not damage it, the birds have picked the paint off it.”
Ms Walker said she treated the unit as her own home, planted roses in the garden and had new carpet, blinds and ceiling fans installed professionally.
The long-term tenant said she asked permission from Housing SA before undertaking the renovations.
She is also infuriated Housing SA would not modify the property to allow her to stay there given she had fallen a number of times.
If the modifications were carried out, Ms Walker – who is now living in an aged care home – said she would be still living in the property.
“I loved it there, it was my home. I planted roses in the back and the carpet I put in was beautiful and clean,” the elderly resident said.
“I fell over in the bathroom twice – they would not take the bath out so there would be more room. I also fell over in the kitchen.
“Housing SA spent no money on the property. A couple of months before I moved out I asked them to come and look at the ceiling, but they did nothing,” Ms Walker said.
“I always paid my rent and looked after the property. I did not do any damage to the property, I improved the place. I did my best to look after it.”
While she is happy to pay for the stickers to be removed, she said she was angry she had been hit with other items in the bill.
“They have already taken the money out of my account -I was always in credit,” Ms Walker said.
“I was good enough to tell Housing SA to leave the carpet, blinds and ceiling fans there for the new tenants.”
Ms Walker said she was also charged for several weeks rent despite not living there.
According to the Housing SA website, the authority is responsible for maintaining the property to a suitable standard and paying for maintenance costs associated with “fair wear and tear”.
As the tenant has lodged an appeal, Housing SA was unable to comment further yesterday.
However generally, Housing SA does not charge tenants for fair wear and tear when vacating properties.
