The nation’s peak housing and homelessness bodies have strongly welcomed the agreement between Labor, the Greens and Cross bench to pass laws that establish the Housing Australia Future Fund (HAFF).

The $10 billion HAFF will create a pipeline of funding for social and affordable rental housing. The package of laws will also establish the National Housing Supply and Affordability Council as an independent statutory advisory body to plan the delivery of new social and affordable housing. It will also establish Housing Australia as the national housing agency.

An additional $1 billion will also be invested in the National Housing Infrastructure Facility to support new homes.

Wendy Hayhurst, CEO of Community Housing Industry Association, said the agreement would give community housing associations the confidence they needed to plan and deliver sorely needed homes.

“The passage of these laws is critically important,” Ms Hayhurst said. “This is the first step to easing the housing crisis and expanding the right type of housing supply, so that people on low and modest incomes have genuine housing options.

Full media release here

National Shelter, CHIA, and Homelessness Australia recently held an event with sector colleagues to hear about the scope and ambition needed in the Plan and the major policy reforms that are needed to address the housing crisis and to end homelessness.

Here is further information following the session:

• The recording of the session can be found here. 
• The slides from the presenters can be found here. This also includes a copy of a paper from Parsell, Petersen and Culhane on ‘Cost Offsets of Supportive Housing’. 
• Cameron Parsell mentioned Sky Constantine during his presentation. Sky’s work on consumer participation can be found here. 
• The AHURI report mentioned by Dr Chris Martin is here, and a shorter paper from The Conversation here. 
• You may be interested in an article from The Conversation by David McKenzie and Tammy Hand on what a national plan should do to reduce youth homelessness. 
• Cameron Parsell mentioned that he has book out soon which digs deeper into the elements of his presentation. You can pre-order his book here. 

We encourage you to utilise the presentations and their associated reports to inform your submission to the national plan. 

Keep an eye on the the schedule of formal consultation for any changes and new sessions. Homelessness Australia has a number of events scheduled to complement the formal consultations by DSS. You can find out more here. CHIA and National Shelter are working on a joint submission, and will be having additional sessions as well. More information to come. 

Today’s National Cabinet package of planning and rental reforms are a step in the right direction towards tackling the housing crisis, particularly the breakthrough on inclusionary zoning, according to peak housing advocacy bodies Community Housing Industry Association and National Shelter.

The package of reforms unveiled this afternoon includes: “Consideration of the phased introduction of inclusionary zoning and planning to support permanent affordable, social and specialist housing in ways that do not add to construction costs.”

The package also includes some notable reforms to improve renters’ rights, including moving towards a “national standard of no more than one rent increase per year for a tenant in the same property across fixed and ongoing agreements.”

“Inclusionary zoning promises to be a real policy breakthrough,” said Wendy Hayhurst, CEO of CHIA. “It should ensure that new housing developments include a percentage of social and affordable homes, significantly expanding housing options for people on low and modest incomes. The particularly great thing about it is that it’s not a tax on development – the ‘cost’ is baked into the price paid for the land.”

Full media release here

The ALP National Conference Fringe Program is a space for engaging the contemporary issues defining today’s social and political landscape. It is the starting point for good progressive policy, a place to explore ideas, and for organisations to build connections.

Over three days, thousands of people will attend over one hundred events, including panel discussions, Q&As, art displays, workshops and networking receptions, alongside the main conference at Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre on 17, 18 and 19 August 2023.

Unlike the rest of the ALP National Conference, the Fringe Program is open to the public and attracts thousands of people every year including over four hundred ALP National Conference delegates from across Australia, international dignitaries, commercial visitors, Members of Parliament, Senators, staffers, and other key decision makers.

Join CHIA for a panel session Meeting Australia’s Social and Affordable Housing Needs

The panel:

Wendy Hayhurst, CEO , CHIA

Dr Ryan Van den Noulewant, City Futures Research Centre UNSW

Dr Laurence Troy, Senior Lecturer in Urbanism University of Sydney

Aimee McVeigh, CEO QCOSS

17 August, 2-3pm

More info here

The Community Housing Industry Association of SA – CHIA SA – is the new name for the peak body representing Community Housing Providers (CHPs) in South Australia.

CHIA SA, previously the Community Housing Council of South Australia, supports and advocates for CHPs, which are not-for-profit organisations providing affordable housing to South Australians living on low incomes.

CHIA SA Chief Executive Officer Luke Westenberg said the new name and logo would align SA with the national peak body, the Community Housing Industry Association (CHIA), and peak bodies in other states. “The time is right for SA CHPs to be part of a national alliance,” said Mr Westenberg.

CHIA CEO Wendy Hayhurst said SA joined a growing national network of CHPs amid rising demand for affordable housing across all jurisdictions.

Full release here

As advocates for social housing and homelessness service providers, and industry we wish to collectively express our gratitude to the parliamentarians who have strengthened three pieces of legislation aimed at addressing Australia’s deep and considerable housing challenge.

The Housing Australia Future Fund Bill 2023, National Housing Supply and Affordability Council Bill 2023 and the Treasury Laws Amendment (Housing Measures No. 1) Bill 2023 will go further and do more for Australians in need, thanks to amendments that guarantee annual dispersal of at least $500 million per year for the construction of social and affordable housing.

Time is now of the essence. The parliament rises for the winter break this Thursday and will not resume until August. Australia can not afford to delay its response to the housing crisis any longer.

Full shared statement here

The National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation (NHFIC) today released its third flagship ‘State of the Nation’s Housing 2022-23’ research report.

The report provides data and analysis into housing demand and supply across Australia, as well as long-term projections, with a view to identifying potential drivers of, and challenges to, housing affordability.

NHFIC CEO Nathan Dal Bon said: “The rapid return of overseas migration together with a supply pipeline constrained by decade-high construction costs and significant increases in interest rates is exacerbating an already tight rental market. NHFIC analysis shows housing affordability and supply are likely to remain challenging for some time, underscoring the need for a holistic approach to mitigate the housing pressures Australians are facing.”

Report here

Full media release here