Bridge Housing: Real Estate and Meanwhile Use Pathways Housing Projects.

Abstract

Bridge Housing provides long-term accommodation for people on low to moderate incomes through our property portfolio across Sydney.

HomeGround Real Estate Sydney is a not-for-profit real estate agency providing a professional property management service to landlords and tenants.

A social enterprise of Bridge Housing, we are registered to manage properties under Affordable Housing schemes, including SEPP 70 and NRAS.

Another initiative of Bridge Housing is the Pathways Home project, a collaboration between Women’s Community Shelters, The Payce Foundation and community housing provider Bridge Housing, which is placing women and children in empty homes slated for development.

While small in scale, the project has provided transitional housing for 17 women and 12 children since late 2017.

It is one of a growing number of “meanwhile use” projects rethinking how underutilised spaces can be put to better use and aims to provide 100,000 bed nights over the next three years – with the help of more developers.

“We’d like to be able to target 100 to 200 [properties] across Sydney,” said Payce Foundation director Dominic Sullivan. “It’s not a huge amount if spread between 20 different [developers].”

“Rather than having these properties empty, there’s some great community uses and social purposes they can be used for.”