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Further amendments to the NRAS Regulations to create additional protections for investors

Further amendments to the NRAS Regulations have been introduced to place new obligations on approved participants to provide additional protections for NRAS investors.

It is important to note the new obligations inserted by the amendments will only apply prospectively, that is, they will apply in relation to an investor who enters into a contractual arrangement with an approved participant on or after 21 December 2017.

The information sheet below describes the new amendments in detail.

Independent Inquiry

In December 2017, Deloitte was engaged by the Department of Social Services to investigate complaints from NRAS investors and applications made by investors to transfer the allocation attached to their rental dwelling to another approved participant. The Deloitte work was conducted in two stages, the first looking into complaints and the second assessing individual investor transfer applications.

In February 2018, Deloitte completed their Stage 1 report of an analysis of complaints about the conduct of approved participants in the NRAS. Deloitte found the Department’s responses to investor complaints accurately reflected the legislative and regulatory environment at the time. The Stage 1 report has not been made public.

The findings from Deloitte’s investigation of individual investor transfer applications have informed the Departments’ approach to assessing investor transfer applications. The Department is currently progressing these applications. Deloitte’s investigation of individual investor transfer applications has also not been made public.

Further details of the independent investigation are available on the Department’s website.

Amendments to the NRAS Regulations to create protections for investors

The National Rental Affordability Scheme Regulations 2008 have been amended to provide, for the first time, protections for NRAS investors.

The amendments introduce a power for the Secretary of the Department of Social Services (or her Delegate) to transfer an allocation attached to an approved rental dwelling from one approved participant to another, if certain grounds exist. These grounds include, but are not limited to, instances where approved participants are not passing on the NRAS incentive to the NRAS investor (where there is a contractual arrangement to do so) within a reasonable time of receiving the incentive, or where the actions of an approved participant have contravened a consumer protection law in relation to the NRAS allocation.

The transfer can be initiated by the Department or at the request of an investor.

The information sheet below describes the new amendments in detail.

For more information relating to the NRAS legislative framework please visit the NRAS Legislation, Resources and Reporting page.

How do I apply for the allocation attached to my approved rental dwelling to be transferred to another approved participant?

The information sheet below describes the process for submitting an application to transfer the allocation attached to your rental dwelling to another approved participant. The Department encourages NRAS investors to familiarise themselves with the process to request a transfer before considering or completing an application to transfer the NRAS allocation attached to their approved rental dwelling to another approved participant:

Investors must complete the ‘Investor application to transfer an allocation to another Approved Participant’ form in order to make an application to transfer the allocation attached to their approved rental dwelling to another approved participant. This form must be used in conjunction with the ‘Guidelines for Completing an Investor Application to Transfer an Allocation to another Approved Participant’:

Note: Where an investor believes grounds for a transfer exist, it will be incumbent on them to put forward a case to the Department to support their claim the allocation should be transferred. This will include providing relevant documentary evidence to support the grounds for requesting the transfer.

Completed applications should be sent to nras@dss.gov.au

If you are unable to submit your application form and supporting evidence via email, please post your completed application form and supporting documentation to NRAS – Payments, Compliance and Communications, Department of Social Services, GPO Box 9820, Centre ACT 2610.

NRAS incentive claims report for investors

The Department has published a new report for investors to advise when incentive claims have been processed by the Department. The NRAS incentive claims report is available at the links below for the 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2016-17 NRAS years. The 2016-17 report will be updated regularly until the majority of incentives have been issued for the 2016-17 year.

Who can become an NRAS Investor

As announced in the 2014-15 Budget, there will be no further funding rounds or new allocations of NRAS incentives beyond those currently allocated in the Scheme and held by approved participants. This means the only dwellings eligible for NRAS incentives are those that have been or are currently being built by approved participants in the Scheme.

However, you may be involved in the Scheme as an investor by:

  • purchasing properties from approved participants as an individual or as part of a consortium arrangement (the list of approved participants can be found at NRAS Performance Reporting); or
  • purchasing an existing NRAS dwelling from a current NRAS investor.

Investors are encouraged to seek independent financial, legal and taxation advice before purchasing NRAS properties.

Information for Private Individual Investors

The information sheet below includes information for potential as well as existing NRAS investors. It also includes advice for investors who may be Centrelink or Child Support customers.

Consent to release information to investor’s forms

This form is required to seek an approved participant’s consent for the Department to release information about the incentive payment for the investor’s approved rental dwelling directly to an investor.

Contact information for State Offices

If you are seeking information relating to your NRAS state incentive payment, please contact the State OfficeGovernment Office relevant to the location of your NRAS dwelling.

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