$400M to deliver social and affordable housing across Melbourne
17 May 2021 at 2:53 pm
Victorians will soon have a range of new housing options delivered via a ground-breaking partnership approach to social and affordable housing
The National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation (NHFIC) has provided funding for around $400 million in loans and grants to deliver more social and affordable housing across Melbourne, as part of a consortium from the not-for-profit, public, private and industry sectors.
The Building Communities consortium consists of Community Housing Limited (CHL) as investor, operator, service provider and owner, Tetris Capital as bid lead and financial advisor, NHFIC as finance partner, Citta Property Group as development and property advisor, and Icon Kajima as the builder.
With NHFIC’s support, CHL will invest, through a combination of debt and equity, circa $500 million to redevelop vacant Homes Victoria land in Brighton, Flemington and Prahran. This includes delivering, operating, and maintaining at least 1,100 new homes — including social, affordable, specialist disability accommodation and private rental dwellings.
The NHFIC funding will help to provide critical infrastructure such as roads, water and power, along with remediation works for the sites.
NHFIC CEO Nathan Dal Bon said that the agreement was a prime example of how federal and state governments can work with the not-for-profit, private and community housing sectors to deliver much-needed social and affordable housing.
“Community housing providers taking on a project of this scale and complexity will position them to reinvest in additional new housing supply,” Dal Bon said.
Designed by Melbourne-based architectural practices such as 6 Degrees Architecture, SJB Architecture, Jackson Clements Burrows Architecture and ARM Architecture, the project will provide an integrated mix of social, market rental, affordable, and specialised disability housing.
Through a combination of affordable lending rates and a Homes Victoria service payment, the program will deliver over 600 new social housing homes along with around 500 new market rental units integrated into the community.
As debt is paid down, the consortium hopes returns from the market rents will drive the growth of further social housing for hundreds of people in need in Victoria.
Steve Bevington, managing director of the Community Housing Ltd Group, said that the project was evidence that leading community housing providers such as CHL can play a pivotal role in the delivery of large scale, complex housing projects.
“It will lead the way in reimagining how social housing can be delivered in Australia,” he said.
“CHL’s sector-leading experience in community development will be utilised to create diverse and integrated communities that foster social inclusion, economic participation, and job creation.
“We will focus on local procurement, training, apprenticeships and employment opportunities for Victorians where possible.”
