When it is well developed and managed, affordable housing offers many benefits, to the community, developers and residents.
Community
The community benefits from affordable housing because it contributes to sustainable and dynamic local communities, by:
- providing housing for a diverse local workforce
- providing direct economic benefits to the local community, including increased demand for goods and services which in turn provides increased local employment opportunities
- accommodating people with the different skills required to support communities, such as shop assistants, bus drivers, construction workers, cleaners, nurses and teachers
- meeting the needs of the growing number of smaller households living in high-cost areas
- promoting economic and social integration – ensuring that families’ housing costs are not so high that they can’t afford to meet education and health costs and that there is sufficient security of tenure to improve their capacity to obtain and maintain employment.
Residents
Residents of affordable housing benefit because it provides housing that:
is more affordable than that already available in the private market, thus still allowing adequate income for essential expenses such as food, clothing, health and education
- integrates with the community
- provides a way for people to remain in areas in which they have lived for a long time, and to live close to their support networks, during changes in life circumstances such as divorce, retirement, or recovery from a long-term illness or injury. Developers
Developers of affordable housing benefit because:
- some local policies to promote affordable housing offer significant financial incentives for developers – for example, through the provision of density bonuses
- affordable housing provides housing close to employment centres, which supports a strong labour force and a vibrant economy
- there are often attractive returns to be made, especially from mixed developments or joint ventures
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