CHC Australia welcomes the ACT Government’s announcement today of a major new investment in social, public, community and affordable housing, describing it as a significant step toward delivering more secure and affordable homes for Canberrans.
The ACT Government has announced a new $364 million Public Housing Pipeline program to build and buy an additional 450 public homes, supported by Territory Priority Projects legislation to accelerate delivery.
The Government has also announced a new $39 million loan guarantee program, expected to support approved community housing projects in the order of $650 million and help unlock more than 1,000 affordable homes in the ACT through the Housing Australia Future Fund.
CHC Australia CEO Nathan Dal Bon said the ACT Government’s commitment recognised the scale of Canberra’s housing challenge and the important role community housing providers can play in delivering long-term affordable rental homes.
“This once-in-a-generation investment has the potential to unlock housing supply at a scale the ACT has not seen before, transforming the affordable rental market and delivering meaningful, enduring social and affordable housing for Canberrans,” Mr Dal Bon said.
“The real impact of this investment will be measured in the people it helps — more nurses, teachers, essential workers and Canberrans on low to moderate incomes having access to secure, affordable homes in the city they help sustain,” Mr Dal Bon said.
CHC Australia said the announcement was an important step toward the ACT Government’s target of growing the Territory’s public housing portfolio to 13,200 homes by 2030, and delivering an additional 5,000 public, community and affordable rental homes by 2030.
“The ACT’s housing needs cannot be met by government or the community housing sector acting alone. What is needed is partnership, scale and certainty,” Mr Dal Bon said.
“CHC has a significant pipeline of new projects in the ACT, and these initiatives have the potential to improve project feasibility and will help unlock more affordable rental homes at a time when construction costs, land costs and financing conditions remain challenging.”
Mr Dal Bon said community housing providers were well placed to help deliver and manage homes supported through both Commonwealth and Territory funding, including ACT Government-owned dwellings to be managed and operated by community housing providers over a 25-year period.
“Community housing providers bring specialist capability in tenancy management, long-term asset stewardship and delivering affordable rental housing for people on low and moderate incomes,” Mr Dal Bon said.
“We look forward to continuing to work with the ACT Government, the Commonwealth Government and Housing Australia to turn this investment into homes for Canberrans who need them.”
CHC Australia said the package, together with recent reforms to reduce lease variation charges and improve planning certainty for public and community housing, represented a more coordinated approach to accelerating social and affordable housing supply in the ACT.
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About CHC Australia
CHC Australia is dedicated to enabling more people to live in safe, quality and affordable homes. The Tier 1 registered Community Housing Provider, operating for more than 25 years, is the largest provider of affordable and social housing based in Canberra. CHC Australia delivers tenancy management, property management, client services, community development and affordable home ownership.
