Innovative Financing Models to Improve the Supply of Affordable Housing

Abstract

On 7 January 2016, the Minister for Social Services, the Hon Christian Porter MP, and the then Assistant Minister to the Treasurer, the Hon Alex Hawke MP, announced that the Commonwealth would establish an Affordable Housing Working Group (‘the Working Group’) to investigate innovative ways to improve the availability of affordable housing (social housing and rental housing in the private market for those on low incomes).
The Working Group comprised members of the Commonwealth Treasury and Department of Social Services as well as members from the New South Wales, Victorian and West Australian Governments
For the purpose of this process, the Working Group has chosen to define affordable rental housing as:
“Affordable housing that reduces or eliminates housing stress for low-income and disadvantaged families and individuals in order to assist them with meeting other essential basic needs on a sustainable basis, while balancing the need for housing to be of a minimum appropriate standard and access to employment and services.”

The Working Group sought proposals from stakeholders to improve the supply of affordable housing while maximising the effectiveness of government expenditure.
The Working Group has sought to ensure its work and recommendations are complementary to the:
• Smart Cities Plan;
• Housing Supply Working Group; and
• various housing strategies and reforms being undertaken by States and Territories.
Where these settings were raised they were considered to the extent that they impacted the financial viability of a model.
It does consider the following innovation in models:
Model 1: Housing loan/bond aggregators
Model 2: Housing trusts
Model 3: Housing co-operatives
Model 4: Impact investing models including social impact bond