Delivery - Principles and Examples

Delivering affordable housing - Examples

Developing and managing affordable housing

Principles of leading practice

Delivering affordable housing - examples

Managing affordable housing through community housing providers

State Environmental Planning Policy No 70: Affordable Housing (Revised Schemes) identifies Willoughby Council as a local government able to implement mandatory requirements for developers to contribute to affordable housing.

Willoughby Council has a mandatory requirement in its LEP for specific sites that are rezoned to permit residential development, to provide four per cent of the accountable total floor space for affordable housing. Through this policy, Willoughby Council now has ten council-owned affordable housing apartments near St Leonards Station in Sydney.

The apartments must be rented to low to moderate-income households. Council has entered a management agreement with North Shore Community Housing (an A-grade registered community housing provider) to manage the housing stock on its behalf under a five-year management agreement. The management agreement specifies allowable rents that can be charged and the tenant groups that must be targeted. North Shore Community Housing is responsible for maintaining a waiting list, allocating properties and ongoing tenancy and property management. Respective roles and responsibilities were allocated through negotiations between the parties.  Willoughby City council retains ownership of the units and responsibility for body corporate fees and major maintenance costs, including structural damage or necessary improvements, while North Shore Community Housing is responsible for minor maintenance, including items such as carpeting and paint work. These and all administrative costs are met from rental income.

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Principles of leading practice

Selecting and supporting a delivery framework for programs

The following principles are intended to guide state governments in building and supporting a strong and effective delivery framework for affordable housing programs. They also guide local governments in selecting a particular approach or provider to develop and or manage affordable housing secured through the planning process. It is important for local governments to recognise and where possible support affordable housing initiatives by community housing or dedicated affordable housing providers. 

Leading practice

• Ensure affordable/community housing providers have the governance structures, expertise and financial capacity to undertake affordable housing development and to manage assets and resources secured through the planning process.
• Consult local/regional affordable housing providers when developing strategic plans for local areas and when undertaking local or regional housing needs assessments. Incorporate their views regarding strategies to facilitate dedicated affordable housing projects and regarding the Leading ways of requiring development contributions for affordable housing, if any.
• When an affordable housing contribution is likely to be secured through the planning process, engage the likely not-for-profit housing provider and Housing Authority (funder) as early as possible in the planning process and consult regarding the best means of supplying a contribution (for example, cash, in kind, site-based or off-site, perpetual title versus fixed lease).
• Ensure that processes and planning provisions designed to secure new affordable housing stock considers the necessary funds or infrastructure to manage the delivery of the housing over the long term.

Pitfalls to avoid

• Don’t design a mechanism to collect affordable housing contributions through the planning process without a delivery system in place to develop or manage the contributions that are secured.
• Don’t seek to transfer affordable housing secured through the planning process to a community housing provider without first involving them in decisions regarding the location or type of housing.

To return to the Delivering Affordable Housing Overview page click ont he link below

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