This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
THE Albanese government is tipping $105 million in infrastructure and construction funding into Western Australia that will unlock up to 28,000 homes, including one of the single biggest boosts to affordable housing stock in the state’s history.
As part of the government’s Housing Support Program, nearly half of the money – $50.6 million – is for Water Corporation infrastructure projects will deliver an estimated 23,280 residential lots, including $7.3 million for two regional projects to deliver over 3,000 lots in Bunbury and Dardanup;
A further $30.5 million will go to Western Power, DevelopmentWA and Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage projects that will deliver an estimated 4,565 residential lots and 19 social housing dwellings; and $23.8 million is heading towards construction projects that will deliver 51 social housing dwellings in High Wycombe, Stirling and Innaloo.
In all, the new investment partnership between the Albanese and Western Australia’s Cook governments will deliver almost 1,800 social and affordable homes for Western Australia.
The agreement, through the federal government’s Housing Australia Future Fund Facility (HAFFF) and the National Housing Accord Facility (NHAF), will see the state government directly contracting builders to deliver 21 new social and affordable housing projects near Metronet stations and on other Government-owned land.
The projects comprise a mix of affordable rentals and social housing, with projects packaged together to create a pipeline of work for the state’s building industry with the aim of attracting builders over from the east coast.
The dwellings will be constructed on state-owned land and the completed dwellings will be sold to and managed by the community housing sector, with availability payments attached to support affordable rental dwellings.
Under the proposal, the Cook government will initially invest $443 million to fund the upfront construction costs of the new homes, which will then be sold to community housing providers (CHPs).
Subject to agreements being finalised with Housing Australia, CHPs may have access to concessional loans from the HAFFF and NHAF and may also be able to apply for senior debt through the Housing Australia Affordable Housing Bond Aggregator (AHBA), as well as ongoing subsidies to support their repayments over a 25-year period.
Around 20% of the homes will be available as social housing, with 80% to become affordable community housing.
The first tranche of projects will consist of 14 developments in Ellenbrook, Byford, Brabham, Redcliffe, Wellard, Woodbridge, Banksia Grove, Rivervale, White Gum Valley, Subiaco East, Albany, Dallyellup, Golden Bay, and Treeby, delivering nearly 1,100 new homes.
In August, the Cook government launched an expression of interest campaign for “lazy” government land that is sitting idle and could instead be directed towards boosting housing supply, while the delivery of an additional 1,700 apartments will be facilitated by new investment in its Infrastructure Development Fund.
The green light has recently been given for Western Australia’s first ever social and affordable build-to-rent project, at a former public housing site in Highgate. The 109 units will comprise 78 dedicated to social housing, 22 affordable rentals, seven disability accommodation units and two on-site overnight assistance units.
The state government has made a $3.2 billion investment in housing and homelessness measures. In October, it passed the 2,500 mark in social homes added to the state’s public housing stock.
