Post on 11-Jan-2016
Partnership Power:Delivering Affordable Rental
Housing
Dr Tony GilmourBuilt Environment Design Professions
2 June 2010
Presentation Overview
• Background – the brave new world of affordable rental housing
• Partnerships in action – City West Housing case study
• Conclusion – the power of partnerships
Know Your Social Rental Housing
• Public housing run by state agencies
• Rents based on 25% household income
• Most tenants don’t work
• Several high-rise and single tenure estates
• Community housing run by non-profits
• Rents range from 25-30% household income up to 75% market rent
• Virtually all tenants work – ‘key workers’
• Mixed tenure/income neighbourhoods, well designed buildings
Rise of Community Housing Providers• Historically, non-profit community housing (‘housing
associations’) dominant – philanthropy, tenant cooperatives etc.
• Mid 20th Century pre-eminence of large volume public housing
• 1970s+ International trend for state coordination/funding of community housing. Public housing becomes ‘residualised’
• 1980s+ Market forces brought into community housing, and move to mixed funding models internationally (slightly later in Australia)
• 1990s+ More complex relationships and partnerships. Stock transfers, joint ventures, use of planning system, ‘nation building’
• Commonwealth Government aims to move community housing shares of social housing from 10% to 35% by 2014
Funding Affordable Rental Housing• National Rental Affordability Scheme (NRAS) launched
2008 with aim to build 50,000 new ‘key worker’ type homes over 5 years
• Competitive bidding for funding to encourage best schemes. No allocation quotas per State or Territory – who are the winners?
• NRAS available to for-profit and non-profit bidders
• Modest level of funding: $8,000 pa for 10 years ($6,000 from Commonwealth, $2,000 State/Territory)
• Need for other ‘levers’ to make schemes work – bank loans, land contributions, planning assistance, tax breaks for developers
• NRAS encouraging further growth of community housing providers. Coupled with greater regulation, NRAS leading to a more professionally managed and commercial sector
Case Study: City West Housing, Sydney
City West Housing – Original Scheme
• Non-profit organisation established by NSW Government 1994 to deliver affordable housing in newly-gentrifying Pyrmont/Ultimo
• Commonwealth contributed $50m – Better Cities Program. NSW Government adds 4% of local public land sales ($7m)
• Developer contributions generated from levy on all commercial and residential schemes in the area under SREP 26. Could be in cash or housing, though in practice all in cash - $14m by 2003
• No on-going subsidy for affordable rental accommodation. Rents set at between 25% and 30% of household income
• 450 units produced in area. City West were the largest developers in Australia of new affordable housing until late 2000s
• Tenants must live or work in designated areas and earn between $29,094 and $80,180 household income
City West Housing – Capital Costs
Source: Milligan et al. (2004)
Grants, 42%
Land sales levy, 15%
Higher income tenants, 10%
Non-profit tax savings, 16%
GST exemptions, 7%Developer
charges, 10%
Zetland
Pyrmont
Green Square
City West Housing – New Directions
• From 1998, City West area of operation spread to Green Square
• City of Sydney ‘Green Square Affordable Housing Scheme’ aims for 479 homes for low/moderate income households over 20 years
• Uses inclusionary zoning. Either 3% of residential floor area should be affordable housing, or if payment in cash - $121 per square metre (separate levies for non-residential schemes)
• Use of National Rental Affordability Scheme (NRAS) incentives
City West Housing – Partnerships
• Integrated working between Federal, State and Local Government
• Developers involved through use of the planning system, and on project delivery
• Design professionals assist masterplanning, environmentally sustainable design etc.
• Tenants actively involved in management decision making, especially existing units
• Professional board: solicitor, planner, developers, accountant, social policy expert
• No links with the main state public housing agency - Housing NSW
Conclusions
Partnership Power
• Affordable rental housing delivery increasingly involves partnerships across public, private and non-profit sectors
• Use of partnerships for affordable housing mirrors solutions to other ‘wicked’ urban problems – Green Square, Barangaroo, heritage etc.
• Move to complex affordable housing delivery models, and integration of housing with other social/economic urban objectives is increasing the role of built environment professionals
• Contemporary BEDP staff need a broader range of skills in finance, risk and partnership working, not just core competencies
• Increasingly important role of professional bodies, consultants and universities in building and sharing knowledge
Partnership Power:Delivering Affordable Rental
Housing
Dr Tony Gilmourtony@elton.com.au
www.tonygilmour.com