2,200 "new" dwellings from the Social and Affordable Housing Fund

Last week the NSW Government announced the first new projects to be delivered by the Social and Affordable Housing Fund (SAHF). This follows a lengthy process after a short-list was announced just under a year ago.

Details of 2,200 new social and affordable housing dwellings have been announced as follows:

• BaptistCare NSW & ACT – 375 homes for older people in housing stress and at risk of homelessness and 125 homes for single parent families with a focus on women impacted by domestic violence (@ 70% social housing, 30% affordable housing)
• Compass Housing Services Co Ltd – 600 homes for tenants that are close to support services and infrastructure (@ 81% social housing, 19% affordable housing)
• SGCH Sustainability Limited – 300 homes for tenants with tailored support coordination services and quality dwellings close to services and infrastructure (@ 70% social housing, 30% affordable housing)
• St Vincent de Paul Housing – 500 homes to general and older aged tenants (@ 71% social housing, 29% affordable housing)
• Uniting – 300 homes for people aged over 55 without children at home (@ 70% social housing, 30% affordable housing)

The projects include a number of regional sites but the announcement provides no clear insight into exactly who will be building what, and in which region. However an infographic provided with the Premier's press release (see below) gives some indication of where the projects will be located:

• 696 dwellings in Hunter New England
• 369 dwellings in Nepean Blue Mountains
• 327 dwellings in South Western Sydney
• 288 dwellings in Northern Sydney, Sydney and South Eastern Sydney
• 84 dwellings in Western NSW, Murrumbidgee and the Far West
• 80 dwellings in Northern NSW and the Mid North Coast
• 63 dwellings in Southern NSW and Illawarra Shoalhaven
• (Note - that doesn't quite add up to 2,200, there are 294 dwellings missing. But the infographic says St Vincent de Paul and St George Community Housing are finishing 294 sites across NSW. Does this mean the SAHF is also funding projects that were already under construction?)

Who is the landlord in this brave new world?

With the foreshadowed, large-scale transfers of public housing stock to the community housing sector, the question arises as to who is the landlord.

Read our answer to this question here.

Brad Hazzard media release: Ivanhoe Estate + new Communities Plus sites

Posted without comment:

Thursday, 25 August 2016

HOUSING PROJECT DELIVERS STRONG INTEREST

The first Communities Plus renewal project at Ivanhoe (Macquarie Park) has sparked strong interest from the private sector development industry and Community Housing Providers (CHPs), said Minister for Social Housing, Brad Hazzard.

“The three shortlisted organisations represent the top echelon of the private development sector and strong Community Housing Providers,” Mr Hazzard said.

“This is an extremely positive response to the Communities Plus program and shows how Government, the private sector and CHPs can be innovative and band together to deliver more housing and better social outcomes.”

The shortlisted groups are: Exemplar Living (Lend Lease) with St George Community Housing and Capella Capital; Frasers Property with Mission Australian Housing and Citta Property Group; and Stockland with Evolve Housing and Brookfield Multiplex Constructions.

The renewal project at Ivanhoe will boost social housing, more than doubling the current 259 social housing dwellings. The project will see 556 new social housing dwellings, at least 128 new affordable housing dwellings and some 1900 private dwellings on the eight hectare site.

The NSW Government has also announced that the second Communities Plus Neighbourhood Renewal package will be offered through an Expression of Interest to Community Housing Providers and small to medium sized private developers. These ten sites will deliver an estimated 790 new private, social and affordable homes into the high demand NSW housing market.

“These ten sites will provide a 300% increase from the current number of social housing dwellings and give residents modern new homes,” Mr Hazzard said.

Neighbourhood Renewal Release 2 involves sites in Corrimal, Wagga Wagga, St Marys, Padstow, Liverpool, South Granville (two sites), Warwick Farm, Parramatta North and Lane Cove.

Communities Plus is a $22 billion redevelopment of NSW Government owned social housing estates to deliver 23,000 new social housing dwellings and 40,500 private and affordable homes in integrated communities with better community outcomes.

Affordable Housing project in Armidale

Northern Tablelands MP Adam Marshall has announced that Community Housing provider Homes North will develop a six-unit Affordable Housing complex in Armidale. According to The Northern Daily Leader, the project will be undertaken in conjunction with property developer Hibbards.

Above: a Community Housing development in Northwestern NSW

National Shelter's rental affordability index provides that the rental market in Armidale is 'relatively unaffordable' for low income households - meaning they pay over 30% of their income in rent on average. 

Although Homes North manages over 1000 Social and Affordable Housing properties in New England and Northwestern NSW, this represents its first foray into property development. According to Mr. Marshall's announcement, the NSW Government "has helped Homes North to increase its borrowings in order to supply more affordable housing". It is believed this was achieved via the transfer of Public Housing stock from NSW Land and Housing Corporation to Homes North. 

The 'Future Directions' plan for the Social Housing portfolio from 2016-2026 outlines an intent to transfer management and/or ownership of Public Housing to Community Housing providers, such that community providers own or manage 35% of all Social Housing in NSW.

NSW Government announces SAHF shortlist

The NSW Government has announced that nine parties have been shortlisted to participate in the first stage of the Social and Affordable Housing Fund ('SAHF'). The SAHF was established in 2015, with $1.1 billion in seed capital from the State, to assist Community Housing providers, private developers, landholders, and NGOs to develop Social and Affordable Housing. 

Above: An award-winning Social Housing development 

The shortlisted parties include four standalone applicants - specialist Community Housing providers Link and St George, plus BaptistCare and Uniting, care organisations involved in Community Housing. The other five are consortia containing Community Housing providers and/or care organisations and private interests. At the industry briefing concerning the SAHF, NSW Government representatives suggested that only consortia would be considered. The State received 24 applications in total. 

There is no indication of where the shortlisted parties propose to construct new housing, nor how many properties each applicant intends to deliver. However, the SAHF project team previously indicated that approximately 30% of dwellings to be provided at the first stage will be in regional NSW. Nor is there any indication of how many parties will ultimately be successful. But given 3000 properties will be built in the initial tranche, and the minimum project size is 500 dwellings for metro-based applications and 200 for regional or mixed applications, it is possible that all shortlisted parties could be selected.

The shortlisted applicants must now submit detailed proposals. The NSW Government is expected to announce its preferred applicants in August 2016. The announcement provides that successful applicants are expected to begin tenanting SAHF properties in two to three years. 

The Social and Affordable Housing fund is one means by which the State hopes to increase the Social Housing portfolio under the overarching 'Future Directions' plan. 

Social and Affordable Housing Fund - update

Some developments relating to the NSW Government's $1 billion Social and Affordable Housing Fund have occurred since an industry briefing was conducted in December 2015. 

Premier Mike Baird discussing the Social and Affordable Housing Fund

Regional allocation

Most notable is that the SAHF Project Team has provided information confirming that phase one of the initiative will aim to deliver approximately 30% of the 3000 dwellings to be provided in regional NSW. The Project Team defines 'regional areas' as all local government areas outside of Sydney, Newcastle, Wollongong, Gosford, and Wyong. At the industry briefing, NSW Treasury Project Director Richard Mills had said the Government did not have a preference for proposals from metropolitan or regional areas. 

This allocation appears to be largely consistent with both tenant demand and the current dispersion of Social Housing stock in NSW. Though figures vary according to sub-region, waiting times for Social Housing are most often higher in Sydney, Newcastle, the Central Coast, and Wollongong than in other areas of NSW. Indeed most property types in most areas of Sydney, Newcastle, the Central Coast, and Wollongong have waiting times of 5-10 years or more. Moreover, the overwhelming majority of current Social Housing dwellings are situated in or near major metropolitan regions. Centre for Affordable Housing data provides that, in 2011, 93,945 of 114,602 Social Housing dwellings in NSW (i.e. 82%) were situated in the statistical districts of Sydney, Hunter, and Illawarra. The Sydney statistical district includes the Central Coast.

North Coast Community Housing Company CEO John McKenna has told The Daily Examiner that the SAHF's requirement that at least 200 social housing dwellings be delivered in any one proposal is prohibitive for providers operating in regional areas. He raised the prospect of his organisation forming a consortium with other Community Housing providers in order to submit a proposal satisfying the criterion. He also noted, "Unlike metropolitan areas, we wouldn't be able to build a 100-unit tower, so our proposal would have to be based around low density or medium-density opportunities".

Launch and Future Directions

On January 30, the Social and Affordable Housing Fund was 'officially launched' by Premier Mike Baird, Treasurer Gladys Berejiklian, and Minister for Social Housing Brad Hazzard. Project partners NCOSS and Infrastructure Partnerships Australia also participated. However, it appears that the launch will not impact upon the administration of the project in any substantive way. Both the media release and the associated reporting neither built on nor contradicted anything provided in the industry briefing or elsewhere. 

Similarly, the fund is noted as forming part of the NSW Government's Social Housing strategy for the next decade in the recently released Future Directions paper (analysis of that document here). However, it is only mentioned in passing, and the paper provides no new information on the project.