This is a joke.

2 months ago I moved into this house now. The lawns weren't done before I moved & and they still aren't done.
I still don't have a recycle bin & the hot water system that was replaced 6 weeks ago still doesn't have a power point, so I have to run an extension cord inside & can't have the house locked up & use hot water at the same time.

But the lawns are what is really getting to me. My yard looks horrible. And I'm not doing it til they sort it out. There's a lot to be done, including full garden beds & I really don't think I should have to touch it. I don't have time to get it back to looking how it should've when I moved in!

I reminded them when they called me yesterday, I haven't been calling them so much lately, because they made me feel like I shouldn't be in here when I signed the lease (dept housing). The housing officer is an absolute cow, to be nice. I like the house, & having 4 bedrooms, but you really have to wonder if its worth it when they treat you like you're no better than the last people, who cost them $60 000 fixing the place up.

Wow that's a bit wrong.

Do you have photos of when you moved in? I'm not sure if department housing comes under the same tenancy tribunal, but surely there's a tribunal or similar that you can contact regarding these issues?

Not being able to lock your house and use hot water at the same time is just ridiculous, not to mention a safety hazard running extension leads all over the place.

As Jaycee said take photos and send everything in writing so email them and attach photos. Paper trail is your friend. Also send emails asking them to contact you within a reasonable timeframe.

There are major safety issues with the extension lead and the long grass prevents you from being able to use the yard with your children.

Sorry you are going through this

I agree with the above posts, but wanted to add, as a person who currently lives in a dept of housing residence - don't get your hopes up. If you're gonna chase it, DEFINITELY keep a notepad with dates, times, and names of all your conversations. But don't get your hopes up. We've got a major crack in the ceiling in one of our bedrooms, which leaks water during heavy rains, that's been there almost 3 years now. They know. We've showed 3 different accommodation managers. It doesn't matter, it doesn't get fixed. Same with the termite problem that almost brought the house down, the faulty downpipes causing mold growth in the carport ceiling - they've replaced the mouldy panels, but haven't actually fixed the problem! - and the fence that is falling down. Scream and shout by all means, but don't expect anything to be done, and at least you won't be disappointed.

They have done a few things. They did replace the hot water system... it was 50/50 if we had hot water or not. If I ring maintenance things do seem to get done, because that's a different department & not through the office.

Its coming up to snake & tick season, & we have a few cases of Lymes disease here, so the yard NEEDS to be done for safety! Fair enough I should just get out there & do it, & I will if this goes on for too much longer, but I'm hoping they understand that it leaves me open to leave the yard a mess when I leave. I took photo's the day I moved in & had someone call 3 or 4 weeks ago about the mowing, but nothing further has been done. They don't use local people for these jobs, they send people from 2 - 3 hours away. The mower dude did say he was trying to find out if they had anything else to be done, other wise he was just losing money. Which I did understand for him, but that's not fair on me. The local shire has a gardener who lives in town, just get him to do it & its done!

I'm going to tidy the yard & take more dated photo's this afternoon. So I have them. I might also email them through, but I don't know if they bother with emails. They didn't reply to my last one.

I'm not expecting a lot from them, but seriously, this is in THEIR best interest if they want the yard up to standards when I leave.

Ok, if you've had contact from the contractor who is supposed to do the job, I think you should ring and get him hurried along. If he's telling them he's taking jobs and then not doing it for weeks on end, that's not ok and they need to be hiring better contractors. And they need to know about it otherwise the contractor will keep taking their money and not doing the job within an acceptable time frame.

Yes, well there's a number of things they haven't done that should've been done & a huge lack of communication between them. There were tradies turning up having received the work order stating that the house was vacant... I'd been in here a month by then. An electrician was given 48 hours to do something, he never showed. I called again & he was given 4 hours... when he called me he told me he was sorry & that was the first he'd heard of it.

It is happening over & over again. It took 2 weeks to finally get the approval for the hot water system because my housing officer was away for personal reasons. They had no one to take her place & deal with any issues while she was away, we just had to wait.

They are now aware, yet again, of the things that need to be done, so hopefully they'll get them done some time soon.