In 2021, analysis of the census data for CHIA showed 640,000 households were either homeless or in rental stress. In some parts of the country over 10% of the households were affected. Families with children are overrepresented in the data. What it also showed is that while there are shortfalls in social and affordable housing across Australia, the issues vary by region. What does not vary is that if we don’t act then this figure is likely to reach almost one million households by 2041.

Over the last decade governments have failed to invest in sufficient social and affordable housing. (Only around 0.77% of all homes added to the total dwellings in Australia have been social and affordable housing).  Social housing rents in particular do not cover the cost to acquire land, build and maintain the homes so a funding gap exists that governments at all levels have a role to help plug. Rising interest rates, inflation, supply chain and workforce issues have not made the task any easier.

That’s the not very good news. But things are changing and many Councils can take a fair share of the credit.

Take the big picture first. We know that access to safe, secure affordable housing is a fundamental human need. There is plenty of evidence that children thrive and do better at school, that mental health is adversely affected by insecure housing and that housing homeless people saves on health and justice bills. What if we stopped thinking just about the cost of providing housing and recognized the benefits were also given a dollar value. Research we commissioned from the University of Swinburne in 2020 conservatively estimates that based on housing stress in the 2016 census, Australia is foregoing almost $650M in benefits every year.

With financial support from South Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils (and NHFIC and infrastructure bodies), we are about to launch a tool that updates and adds to that research so that the dollar benefits generated from a social and affordable housing project can be calculated. Our hope is that this helps Councils (and others) to make a business  case for investing / making available land in this vital infrastructure.

Of course, many Councils have been working with community housing organisations, some for many years. It’s probably worth remembering that there are tier 1 CHOs that owe their existence to a Council  – Housing First in Victoria and the Housing Trust in NSW being just two examples.  A contemporary example we hope gets up soon is the  City of Greater Geelong initiative to establish a housing trust with a Registered Housing Association as trustee.  The trust will be able to hold assets and funding provided by the City and the private sector. 

More recently the combination of housing shortages across Australia and the introduction of state  / territory government housing programs and the promise of the federal government’s Housing Australia Future Fund have stimulated more action.

These have taken a few forms. First increasing numbers of Councils have used their planning powers to require new residential developments to incorporate social and affordable housing. Just two contrasting examples. In NSW the City of Canada Bay Council developed a housing strategy that provides an evidence base to require major redevelopment sites to provide affordable housing (3.5% to 5% of floor space depending on the location) that will be managed by community housing providers. (See here).

In Victoria, City of Whittlesea Council has used their voluntary planning agreement to ensure a major new development included social housing. With funds from the Big Housing build it means that around 150 new social housing homes will be delivered by Haven Home Safe. (See here)

Second, many Councils are setting up their own task forces to tackle housing pressures. One example, in regional Victoria six councils are collaborating via Wimmera Southern Mallee Development Association to look at how their own resources could be used as a basis for attracting other funding and have entered into a Memorandum of understanding with a community housing organization that includes identifying opportunities such as potential land parcels for the development of Social and Affordable Housing, providing access to vacant properties for development, and possibly assistance with council planning/permits and additional financial contributions. Working in partnership also allows the two sectors to at together to respond to challenges such as the rising costs of construction and lack of construction capacity in the region.

And then there are multiple initiatives tailored to the circumstances facing and capacity of local Councils such as the Woollahra Council domestic violence support package | which provides annual funding to the Women’s Housing Company over each of the next three years for accommodation for women and their children escaping domestic and family violence.

The funding is used to maintain 10 units, provided to support vulnerable women and their families for transitional periods between 6 months and 3 years. It allows women who are not eligible for social housing to remain within the Woollahra LGA, close to family, local schools and other support networks.

The Agreement operates as a subsidised income-based rent model, with residents paying 25% of their income (the same rate used for social housing) and Council subsidising the balance of weekly rent. Since it was introduced in 2019, the Program has enabled 11 local women and their families (17 children) to remain within the Woollahra LGA to sustain community connections and support.

CHIA recognizes the pressures many councils are under when it comes to responding to the housing shortages  – in terms of resourcing and also the reluctance / apprehension of some communities to accept new housing which can delay progress for developments. We’ve taken the approach that its best to work with Councils to try and overcome these issues. Both CHIA NSW and CHIA VIC have worked to produce guides and resources with their local government peaks to help win acceptance to social and affordable housing and also to look at different models to enable the cost effective use of local government land. CHIA NT is about to develop its own guidance and resources.

At the National level CHIA was pleased to support funding that ALGA called for to assist councils to facilitate more affordable and social housing across the nation. ALGA was seeking $100 million per year over four years to help councils undertake activities such as land audits, housing assessments and community engagement that support additional housing in their communities. It’s a modest ask and we hope that there might be more appetite in the next Federal budget.

After all with we hope the HAFF, the National Housing Accord and a 10 year National Housing and Homelessness Plan coming up, we need to be sure Councils are ready to respond.

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