St Vincent de Paul to deliver SAHF homes

St Vincent de Paul will deliver 78 social and affordable housing units at Merrylands in Western Sydney as part of the NSW Government’s $1.1bn Social and Affordable Housing Fund. Social Housing Minister Pru Goward was reported as saying the SAHF model, which links housing with vital supports, showed what could be achieved when government worked…

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CHL and Horizon join forces for housing affordability

Australian not-for-profit housing provider Community Housing Limited (CHL) has announced its integration of Queensland’s largest housing provider, Horizon Housing,  into the CHL Group of  Companies. The move will provide CHL with a strong advantage in Queensland to deliver more affordable housing  in the State. Over the next year this integration will drive growth for the two organisations so that more Australians who are facing housing crisis are able to secure long‐term affordable housing. The integration will boost CHL’s current portfolio to over 11,000 properties by November 2018, making it  the largest community housing provider in the country. The combined group will manage  community and affordable housing properties across the six states with nearly 300 staff delivering  services to support those most disadvantaged. The new arrangement will consolidate expertise and strengthen the reach and services offered by  both community housing providers. It will allow both the organisations to utilise their  complementary strengths and drive efficiencies, reducing costs and releasing revenue to access  more finance to build more homes and improve the quality of services to customers. Horizon, Queensland’s largest housing provider with operations in 15 in local government areas  across Queensland and parts of New South Wales, provides both community housing programs and  affordable housing projects and has over 2,400 properties in its portfolio, all of which will now  benefit from the expansion of services and increased resources available via CHL. ‘This new arrangement further strengthens the position of both organisations, providing each with  mutually beneficial outcomes aligned to our shared vision of providing the communities we serve  with affordable housing solutions that are available and accessible by those in need,’ says CHL Group’s  Managing Director, Steve Bevington. ‘Our collaboration is an exciting development for the sector and redefines the landscape, we look  forward to drawing on this strengthened position to deliver future affordable housing solutions as  the housing crisis across the country escalates.’ CHL has long been considered a sector leader, supporting and growing the industry  both locally and internationally, providing end-to-end affordable housing developments and long -term housing and tenancy management operations in Australia. ‘Horizon’s integration within the CHL Group is another step in that direction’, adds Steve. CEO of Horizon Housing, Jason Cubit, said the organisation was excited to be part of the CHL group of  companies. ‘The integration of Horizon Housing and CHL is an exciting new chapter, as it allows us to pool the  expertise and resources critical to improving the lives of the most vulnerable members of the  community,’ Mr Cubit says. ‘Our initiatives don’t only help families get by in the short‐term, but empower them to break  the  cycle of financial stress, aiding a transition into the private rental or property market.’…

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Last days for The New Urban Agenda

Compass Housing Services and the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage’s Sustainability Advantage Program have partnered to bring you The New Urban Agenda: Partnering for a resilient, inclusive, sustainable NSW Forum. The Group Managing Director of Compass Housing, Greg Budworth, is one of the keynote speakers, along with Michael Nolan, the Chair of the UN Global…

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Meet your Board Members: Leonie King

CHIA Board member and City West Housing CEO Leonie King brings a unique perspective to her community housing role. Leonie spent a number of years working in housing as a senior NSW Government executive. She bowed out of the bureaucracy in 2016 as an Executive Director in the Department of Family and Community Services, her…

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Job: Evolve into a Comms role

Evolve Housing is seeking a full-time Communications and Public Relations Officer. Reporting to the Senior Manager – Marketing & Engagement this position is responsible for providing timely and professional communications and public relations support to the business by contributing to the development of the social media strategy and proactively develop and maintain relationships with media…

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The NSW Aboriginal Housing Office has partnered with the NSW Federation of Housing Associations (NSWFHA) to support the development of a new peak body to represent that state’s Aboriginal community housing sector.

The new body is to be called the Aboriginal Community Housing Industry Association NSW– or ACHIA NSW – to promote a close working relationship with the mainstream peak bodies; the national Community Housing Industry Association (CHIA) and state NSWFHA (which plans to change its name to CHIA NSW in 2018).

Since being established in December, ACHIA’s interim committee has been developing its terms of reference, a work plan and strategic priorities to take back to the sector for consultation.

NSWFHA has also been working hard to raise the profile of the new peak with stakeholders, including all levels of government, so that Aboriginal housing is not just seen as a specialist area dealt with by specialist agencies.

The interim committee will consult with the sector on the governance structure for ACHIA, including elections and the selection criteria for Board members.


Community housing to deliver 2700 homes in NSW by 2020

By 2020, the community housing industry will deliver 2700 homes across NSW. That statistic is just one of the facts discovered and highlighted by the NSW Federation of Housing Association’s (NSWFHA) comprehensive report, Delivering New Housing Supply: NSW Community Housing Industry Snapshot 2017. The report is the first time the NSW community housing industry has reported on…

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National Tier one and largest not for profit housing provider, Community Housing Limited (CHL) is excited at the prospect of providing social housing to over 2,200 more people on the NSW Mid North Coast.

In an announcement made by the NSW Minister for Social Housing, Pru Goward, CHL was successful in its tender under the Social Housing Management Transfer Program for the Port Macquarie, Kempsey and Nambucca areas.

CHL will take management responsibility for around 1,300 additional properties, currently managed by Family and Community Services (FACS). Alongside this portfolio growth, CHL will also take responsibility for managing all applications for social housing and private rental assistance in the area, and will take a lead role in coordinating the social housing and homelessness sector across the Mid North Coast region.

“This is a wonderful opportunity for CHL to provide more services to more people, in places where the company has a long history of serving the community”, says Steve Bevington, Managing Director of Community Housing Ltd.

The NSW Government is transferring the management of around 14,000 social housing tenancies to community housing providers by 2019 bringing the total stock under management by community housing providers to 32 per cent.

Properties are scheduled to transfer in late 2018 with the NSW Government maintaining ownership of all of the properties and leasing them to CHL for a 20-year period.

“CHL is looking forward to working closely with tenants and communities, our key partners in the region and FACS over the coming months, to make the transfer a success and improving the overall social housing outcomes in the region,” adds Dr Lucy Burgmann, NSW State Manager for CHL.

This transfer will close to double the total number of properties under CHL’s management in NSW to 2,900 bringing the total national portfolio to around 7,500 properties.


1,201 NSW public housing transferred to community housing

Leading Sydney community housing organisations Bridge Housing and Women’s Housing Company have been awarded the NSW Government tender to manage 1,201 public housing tenancies in the northern beaches for the next 20 years. The winning partnership under the Social Housing Management Transfer Program will see the two experienced housing organisations take over management of the…

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Thumbs up to housing boost: NSWFHA

The NSW Federation of Housing Associations (NSWFHA) today welcomed the State Government’s announcement it will provide an extra 1200 homes through Phase 2 of the Social and Affordable Housing Fund (SAHF) and prioritise housing for older women.  NSWFA Wendy Hayhurst said the 1200 additional homes should bring to 3400 the number of new social and…

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The City of Sydney has provided Bridge Housing with $100,000 funding to create a not-for-profit real estate agency that will increase the supply of affordable rental accommodation in inner city Sydney.

The agency will be part of the Home Ground Real Estate brand established by Launch Housing in Victoria. It will enable private landlords to support people seeking affordable rental housing by offering their properties for rent to Bridge Housing.

Click here for details.


Sydney-based community housing provider Bridge Housing took out a gold award at the 2017 Australasian Reporting Awards for its 2016 annual report.

It was Bridge’s fourth consecutive gold award and fifth overall.

The Annual Report Awards are aimed at improving the communication of business information and the standards of financial reporting and are designed to enable organisation to benchmark the quality of their annual reports against world best practice.

Bridge was competing against entries from New Zealand, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia, India and Russia.

Bridge CEO John Nicolades says, ‘The recognition we receive through these awards is warmly welcomed and further motivates our Board, management team and staff to strive for best practice governance, communication with our stakeholders and financial reporting in the year ahead.

‘Bridge Housing takes pride in being an organisation that always works to high governance standards and transparency. Congratulations to the other winners for their hard work and achievement.’

You can view Bridge’s annual report here.

Entries for the 2018 ARA will open on September 1.