Tag Archives: homelessness

NHFIC: Social Bond Report 2021

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The National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation (NHFIC) has released its Social Bond Report for 2020–21. NHFIC’s Social Bond Report provides insights into bond issuances, including borrower profiles and use of proceeds.

Highlights include:

  • Issuing 3 bonds – including NHFIC’s first sustainability bond and longest-tenor bond, and first floating rate note – raising a total of $805 million.
  • Supporting more than 4,900 dwellings, with around two-thirds (65 per cent) of the CHP loans funded by the three bonds underpinning new housing supply.
  • Provided 9 community housing providers with an estimated $161 million in fee and interest savings, through longer tenor and lower-interest loans.
  • Continued to attract private investment into social and affordable housing in Australia, by growing NHFIC’s investor base domestically and offshore, with 7 new offshore investors.
  • Meeting the housing needs of a range of cohorts including vulnerable women, indigenous households, and people with disabilities.

Full media release here

Social Bond Report here

CHIA: Sector rejects Mr Falinski’s uninformed and prejudiced comments about social and affordable housing

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A coalition of affordable housing advocacy peak bodies has rejected the comments made by Jason Falinski MP, chair of the Standing Committee on Tax and Revenue’s Inquiry into housing affordability and supply in Australia, labelling them as uninformed and prejudiced. CHIA, Homelessness Australia, and National Shelter, object in the strongest terms to Mr Falinski’s misrepresentation of the sector and disregard for the important contribution that affordable housing makes to the wellbeing of Australians in housing need.

Mr Falinski’s statements at UDIA’s National TV event on 9 September denigrating social and affordable housing come in the same week that the Women’s Safety Summit issued a statement recognising that ‘Affordable, accessible long-term housing…… is fundamental to the safety and recovery of victim-survivors and must be a priority.’

Full release here

Expert housing panel: Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees conference

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At the AIST (Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees) ASI 2021 conference last week one of many discussions that took place was on a newly developed investment model in affordable housing that aims to overcome some of the traditional barriers to pension fund investing in this asset class and deliver solid returns for members.

Carrie Hamilton, Consultant, Housing Action Network, Wendy Hayhurst, CEO @ CHIA and Associate Professor Christian (Andi) Nygaard, Deputy Director, Centre for Urban Transitions, Swinburne University of Technology as an expert panel provided their insights into this topic. The recording can be heard here.

Statement on Housing for Women’s Safety: Social housing cannot be overlooked during women’s safety summit

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CHIA is pleased to be one of the 240+ signatories to the Statement on Housing for Women’s Safety, organised through Everybody’s Home. These organisations are concerned “about the continuing toll of violence against women, and lack of Government action to provide safe homes, so women and children can escape violence and rebuild their lives. Failing to include housing for women’s safety on the Agenda at the National Summit on Women’s Safety highlights the lack of focus on this critical issue. You simply can’t talk about women’s safety without talking about safe and affordable homes.”

For the full statement please click here 

Media Release: Social and affordable rental housing: time for all levels of government to invest in this transformational social infrastructure

Federal News No Comments

The Community Housing Industry Association (CHIA) applauds the 2021 Australian Infrastructure Plan’s break through call for all levels of government to invest in social and affordable rental housing. The Plan recognises that ‘well-maintained and designed social housing provides many community benefits, supporting individual and societal wellbeing and productivity, and reducing costs in health and justice services’ and recommends the design and implementation of programs to increase supply’.

“Infrastructure Australia is to be commended for the focus on social infrastructure in this plan. Too often Australian governments have viewed social and affordable rental housing investment solely as an impost and overlooked its positive impacts, not just for the individual who gets a home but for other service budgets.” said Wendy Hayhurst, CHIA’s CEO. “Only last week, for example the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI) published research showing that helping ex-prisoners through social housing typically cuts re-offending and saves the tax payer thousands of dollars.”

Full media release here

Access Housing changes its name to Housing Choices Western Australia (Housing Choices WA)

News Western Australia No Comments

As of 18 February 2021, Access Housing will officially change its name to Housing
Choices Western Australia (Housing Choices WA), as the merger between Access
Housing and Housing Choices Australia reaches completion.

The two organisations officially merged on 1 July 2020, paving the way for Housing
Choices to become one of the largest community housing providers in the country. In
Western Australia, Housing Choices WA has 1,850 properties with over 3,000
tenants and a total asset value of over $175 million. Since the merger, Housing
Choices (including WA) is now responsible for the management of nearly 7,000
social and affordable homes across five states in Australia, with assets valued in
excess of $900 million and with annual revenue of nearly $70 million.

The merger’s completion puts the Housing Choices Group of Companies in a leading
position to work with the WA Government and other industry stakeholders to help
resolve the State’s current housing crisis.

Full media release here

Everybody’s Home: nationwide coalition pushes for 30,000 new homes

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More than 300 organisations have signed an open letter calling for a social housing construction boom, similar to that of the post-war era

The Everybody’s Home campaign is pushing for Australia to build 30,000 new homes in the next four years, not only to deliver families much needed secure housing but to also in a bid to create some 18,000 jobs.

The broad coalition of signatories includes prominent national bodies, such as ACOSS, the Community Housing Industry Association (CHIA), Anglicare Australia, YWCA Australia, ACTU, Country Women’s Association, Mission Australia, St Vincent de Paul Society, the Salvation Army, National Shelter and Homelessness Australia. Several city councils from across the country have also signed on, including Lismore City Council, City of Greater Dandenong, Cardinia Shire Council and Strathfield Council.

“Australia can kill two birds with one stone if it directs some of the massive stimulus spending at the coming budget to social housing,” said Kate Colvin, national spokesperson of the Everybody’s Home campaign.

Full media release here

Open letter (PDF) here

 

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