Housing Assistance Act 2007

This section applies to land placed under the control of the housing commissioner under section 32.

The housing commissioner may do 1 or more of the following in relation to the land:

manage the land;

authorise people to enter the land;

use the land in any way the commissioner considers appropriate for the commissioner’s functions;

arrange for the grant to someone else of a lease of, or licence to occupy, the land;

obtain a lease for the land in the name of the housing commissioner and transfer the lease;

if the land is held by an entity under a lease—

do anything in relation to the land that the Territory could do in relation to the land immediately before the land was placed under the commissioner’s control; or

exercise any power under the Recovery of Lands Act 1929 that the Territory may exercise for the land under that Act on behalf of the Commonwealth.

The Recovery of Lands Act 1929 provides for the Territory to end a lease and take action against people. However, it does not apply to leases under the Residential Tenancies Act 1997.

See also the Planning Act 2023, s 382 for the recovery of land from a former lessee.

However, a lease or licence must not be granted by anyone for the land except with the housing commissioner’s prior written agreement.