The NSW Government will drive the growth of its $51 billion social housing portfolio through innovative partnerships, with a new plan to make it easier for community housing providers (CHPs) to deliver new, fit-for-purpose social housing across the state.
NSW Land and Housing Corporation Chief Executive, Mick Cassel, said his organisation’s new Portfolio Strategy will see it move beyond being an asset manager, to becoming an owner and broker of social housing.
Mr Cassel said the strategy provides a blueprint for LAHC over the next 20 years to deliver on the Government’s Future Directions for Social Housing plan.
He said this enables government to better leverage its land and housing assets and forge stronger partnerships with industry and local governments.
“The NSW Government has invested almost $900 million in new funding for homelessness services and social housing - the largest investment in social housing in this state in more than 20 years, and money that will see thousands of new homes built,” he said.
“The need for housing is great and government alone can’t fix the problem, which is why this strategy will help us work more productively, and more often, with industry, councils and CHPs to deliver more new, fit-for-purpose social housing throughout NSW.”
The LAHC Portfolio Strategy sets out the organisation’s 20-year vision and priorities to grow and change its portfolio to one with more smaller, well-designed, accessible, sustainable and affordable homes.
It provides a blueprint for better collaboration with local councils, the community housing sector, the property industry and financial organisations, including:
- Developing a funded 10-year housing target and a pipeline of new homes
- Generating alternate funding to accelerate new social housing by increasing LAHC’s broker role in developing new homes and developing new financing partnerships
- Reducing the average age of our portfolio and increasing the volume of fit-for-purpose homes to help better manage under-occupancy and overcrowding.