The retrospective cancellation of a public housing tenant's rental rebate under s 57 of the Housing Act 2001 (NSW) does not convert the rebated amounts into arrears of rent and cannot be used as a basis for terminating the tenancy for non-payment of rent under ss 87 and 88 of the Residential Tenancies Act 2010 (NSW). The Corporation's remedy is to recover the cancelled rebate amounts as a statutory debt under s 57(4)-(5). Where a public housing landlord grants a rental rebate and the tenant pays rent at the rebated rate, the tenancy agreement is varied for each period in which rebated rent is paid, and the landlord cannot retrospectively characterise the difference as rent arrears absent fraud.
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