CHFV Calls For Victorian Government Taskforce To Address The State’s Housing Affordability Crisis
CHFV last week released Increasing affordable housing through the Victorian community housing sector, a seminal report on the sector from Deloitte Access Economics. With the arrival of a new government and the announcement of the Department of Planning’s newly formed Housing Affordability Unit, the findings and recommendations are timely.
"This is a foundational document that identifies current benchmarks in regards to the progress of our sector in the last four years. It takes in the current funding, policy, and regulatory arrangements and identifies areas that must be addressed in order to sustain growth," says CHFV CEO Jacqui Watt.
The report identifies three key areas that need to be addressed in order maximise the growth of affordable housing in Victoria:
- Government funding to support private investment
- Long-term policies for land release, regional development, and supporting infrastructure development, and
- The implementation of a national regulatory framework to reduce cross-jurisdictional barriers for growth.
"This report strongly emphasises the need for a whole-of-government approach and should be a catalyst for the community housing sector to sit at the table with the Baillieu Government in the form of a Government Taskforce to address the State's No.1 problem – the housing affordability crisis."
The report underlines the importance of helping the community housing sector become self-sustaining in the long term, noting for example that the current rental income stream that Housing Associations receive is more than adequate to cover interest on borrowings, but insufficient to cover the cost of raising additional capital to fund supply of new homes.
"This opens the discussion in regards to direct funding options and policies to assist in raising finance. Working towards being self-sustaining as an industry therefore requires more than one government department to solve this issue. We need to develop solutions with DHS and the Office of Housing, Treasury, Planning, FaHCSIA and others," says Ms. Watt.
The report reflected positively on the community housing financial model in terms of delivering value for money on public funds, and also being structured in such a way that funding for growth and maintenance of existing stock is financially sustainable in the long term.
The community housing sector provides a flexible and effective means of delivering affordable housing to many in need and does so in a manner that compliments public housing" says Ric Simes, Partner at Deloitte Access Economics. "In addition, community housing organisations are able to leverage their housing stock as collateral to fund the development of additional homes."
In regards to the formation of a Government Taskforce, CHFV notes that successful outcomes require cooperation and hard work to help address the challenges of each partner. CHFV is ready to offer advice to the Victorian government about how to make a whole of government approach to affordable housing work for all Victorians.
"What we clearly recognise is that the housing affordability crisis can more readily be solved and homelessness eliminated sooner if peak bodies, government, and other key stakeholders work together to provide holistic solutions to complex problems," says Ms. Watt.
