A GROUP of tenants have nowhere to live after an emergency order was issued for the Melton West house which they were sharing.
At age 30, Clayton Smith said he was being faced to leave the only “family” he had ever known. After a lifetime of government care, he said he’d found some peace with his fellow housemates.
He and seven other tenants are frantically looking for somewhere to live, after being told they must leave the unregistered boarding house by the end of this week.
An emergency order was issued by Melton Council on August 29 after a surveyor found the building was unfit for habitation. There were also concerns about illegal works and a change of use from a single residential dwelling to a boarding house.
The tenants said they were only notified last week, giving them less than a week to vacate.
Mr Smith said there was no formal lease agreement.
The Weekly tried to contact the landlord, but they did not return calls.
Brimbank and Melton Community Legal Centre principal solicitor Khanh Nguyen said the council was within its rights to shut down the house, but the situation for the tenants was undesirable. “Council needs to be reminded of the memorandum of understanding and model partnership protocol for the closure of private rooming houses. It dictates that council should consider the impact of leaving residents homeless by shutting down the rooming houses.”
Mr Nguyen said rogue landlords were a major problem in the western suburbs and the ultimate victims were the tenants.
Melton’s family, youth and housing manager Matthew Wilson said the council was working with the residents involved.
According to council, there are no rooming houses registered in the municipality.
