What is the Housing Australia Future Fund (HAFF)?
The $10.0bn Housing Australia Future Fund (HAFF) was passed through the Senate in September 2023.
The HAFF will:
- distribute at least $500m across states and territories per year
- aim to deliver 20,000 social and 10,000 affordable homes over 5 years from 2024, including 4,000 homes for women and children impacted by family and domestic violence or older women at risk of homelessness.
Due to the population size of NSW, it is anticipated that a significant proportion of the housing delivered under HAFF will be in NSW. Funding is provided via a concessional loan and annual availability payments to Community Housing Providers (CHPs) over 25 years to bridge the gap between rental revenue and costs.
Additional funding streams
Additional Commonwealth government funding streams to complement HAFF are outlined below.
$2bn Social Housing Accelerator Fund (SHAF or Accelerator)
The social housing Accelerator stream provided a one-off payment to state and territories to deliver new and additional social housing, including via partnerships with CHPs. NSW received $610m of this funding. Within the Housing Portfolio of Homes NSW $140m has been allocated to support projects in partnership with CHPs to deliver more social homes.
The National Housing Accord
The National Housing Accord aims to deliver 20,000 new affordable dwellings over five years from 2024 through a combination of Commonwealth funding and contributions from states.
Partnerships
Partnerships with the community housing and private sectors have proven ability to cost-effectively accelerate and grow supply of new social and affordable housing, in alignment with government objectives. Commonwealth funding offers the opportunity to grow these partnerships and maximise benefits to the NSW housing system.
Homes NSW sits at the heart of a multi provider housing system that requires coordination and contribution of land and resources from other agencies, CHPs, and private partners to deliver on the housing targets.
Annual commitments and completions will grow substantially to meet HAFF targets, requiring a rapid upscaling of housing activity across NSW. Increased capacity and capability in Homes NSW and CHP partners is needed to deliver the requisite social and affordable homes over 5 years.
Procurement will be standardised and streamlined, building speed and scale efficiencies whilst maintaining value for money and the appropriate level of risk appropriate to each product type and the nature of the intended counterparty.
Together these strategies will create strong partnerships with CHPs and maximise the use of Commonwealth funding and Homes NSW land and equity to accelerate and grow delivery of social and affordable housing in NSW.
Contact us
For enquiries related to Homes NSW partnerships in relation to HAFF, homesnsw-oceo-partnershipsandcommunications-execunit@homes.nsw.gov.au
For more information on HAFF, please visit Housing Australia.