$5.3b
investment in social and affordable housing
10% increase
in social housing properties
7 star
NatHERS efficiency
rating for all new homes
10%
will be targeted at Aboriginal households
Key elements
- The $5.3 billion package will be delivered over four years
- It will provide a total of 12,000 social housing properties, including the replacement of 1,100 public housing units.
- Community Housing organisations will receive $1.38 billion to develop 4,200 of the new social housing homes and manage 4,000 more that will be built on government land or be spot purchased by the government
- Ten per cent, or 820 of these, will be targeted to Aboriginal households
- 2,000 will be targeted for renters with a mental illness
- 1,000 will be targeted victim-survivors of family violence
- 25 per cent will be in regional Victoria
Frequently Asked Questions
Click on the FAQs on the tabs below.
What is it?
Community housing provides homes for low-income renters who are priced out of the private market. It offers long-term housing to eligible low-income applicants at a rent that is affordable. Some community housing organisations also provide temporary crisis accommodation or transitional housing, which is a stepping stone to long-term housing for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness. Some organisations also provide ‘affordable housing’, which are homes that are rented to eligible people at a discount to market rent rather than as a proportion of the renter’s income.
Who provides it?
Community housing is provided by not-for-profit organisations that have a social mission to provide homes for those priced out of the private rental market. Some organisations also offer support services.
How is it different to public housing?
Public housing is owned and managed by the Victorian Government. Community housing is managed, and sometimes owned, by not-for-profit organisations, many of whom have a social mission to assist a specific type of renter, perhaps those fleeing family violence or who are Aboriginal. Some community housing organisations also provide support services to help renters to maintain their tenancy.
Who are the tenants?
Community housing tenants have a range of backgrounds and stories, from older women who have retired with minimal superannuation to working families to people with a disability, single parents, and working families in low-paying jobs. What they share is an inability to afford to buy a home or rent in the private market.
What does it look like?
Our properties are as diverse as the people we house, ranging from standalone family homes to apartments in multi-dwelling complexes, studio apartments and rooming houses.
Where is it?
Community housing organisations aim to locate homes in areas with good access to transport, services and jobs and where there is strong need for affordable housing.
Partnerships between local government and community housing organisations can ensure that new housing is located in areas of high demand.
How is it allocated?
Each organisation has an allocations policy, based on the focus of its activities and its contractual obligations to government. This includes targets for housing applicants who are on the Victorian Housing Register, which is the shared waiting list for public and community housing.
How much is the rent?
Rents charged by community housing organisations for low income tenants are generally required to be no more than 25 or 30 per cent of the combined gross incomes of all members of the household, plus any CRA to which the tenant is entitled.
For tenants on moderate incomes, there is flexibility for community housing to adopt different approaches, such as basing rents on a discount to market rental.
What rights do renters have?
Community Housing tenants share the same protection of their rights under the Victorian Residential Tenancies Act 1997. To help tenants understand their rights, all community housing organisations have their policies and procedures outlined on their websites.
Community housing organisations are regulated by the Australian Charities and Not for Profit Commission, which requires that they must have only charitable purposes that are for the public benefit and do not distribute income or assets to individuals for private benefit.
The Registrar of Housing Agencies has broad powers and responsibilities to monitor and regulate the community housing sector to ensure compliance with the Housing Act and mandatory Performance Standards.
Who can partner?
Community housing organisations are experienced in partnering with developers and all levels of government to deliver community housing and affordable housing. CHIA Vic, as the peak body for community housing, has collaborated with the Municipal Association of Victoria to create a suite of resources to assist. You can view and download the information here.
How can I partner?
See our Affordable Housing page on this website for more information about working with community housing. You can also book into our training session ‘Community housing explained’ to gain a greater understanding of our sector. The session is held regularly throughout the year. See our training page to book.
What do I need to know?
When partnering with community housing organisations, it’s important to understand their business model to ensure any deal is financially viable for them. This could involve providing a significant discount on the purchase price and/or establishing ways that the community housing organisation won’t be burdened with large ongoing owners’ corporation costs. For more information, see the Affordable Housing page and resources.
What’s the funding model?
Community housing required government subsidy to fill the gap between the rents it charges to low income tenants and the costs of providing quality and appropriate housing. This subsidy can be in the form of grants to fund the construction of new housing, opportunities to manage state-owned rental housing on behalf of government, or ongoing funding to support a particular housing program.
How is public investment protected?
To be eligible for government financial support, community housing organisations need to be registered under Victoria’s regulatory system, which is overseen by an independent statutory appointee, the Housing Registrar.
Regulation also ensures that assets owned by the organisation are dedicated for use as affordable rental housing. Where government has provided funding for a registered organisation to purchase housing, an interest recorded on the title to the land prevents that organisation from selling or using the property as security without the consent of government.
First steps
See our Affordable Housing page for more resources on partnering with the community housing sector.
ABOUT US
CHIA Victoria, and CHIA Vic, is the trading name of the Community Housing Federation of Victoria (CHFV).
OUR HOME
1/128 Exhibition Street
Melbourne, 3000
03 9654 6077
holly.mullaney@chiavic.com.au
APPLY FOR HOUSING
Applications for social housing (public and community housing) can be made via the Victorian Housing Register.
Click here for details.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY
CHIA Vic acknowledges the Traditional Owners of country throughout Australia and recognises their continuing connection to land, waters and community. We pay our respects to them and their cultures; and to elders both past and present.