More than 8,600 affordable homes built across Australia

More than 8,600 affordable rental homes have been built across the nation under the Gillard Government’s National Rental Affordability Scheme (NRAS) – with about 1,150 of them in South Australia.

Minister for Housing and Homelessness Brendan O’Connor today released the June 2012 NRAS Performance Report during a visit to an NRAS development in Adelaide.

Under NRAS, the business and community sectors receive financial incentives to build new homes and rent them out at a rate that is at least 20 per cent below the market rate to low income households.

“We know that housing affordability is a major concern for many households, including here in South Australia,” Mr O’Connor said.

“That’s why the Government has invested a record $20 billion in housing and homelessness programs since 2008.

“Today’s report confirms that we are continuing to help make rental accommodation more affordable for Australians on low and moderate incomes.

“More than 4,700 new homes – including 530 in South Australia – were built under NRAS during the last financial year, and over 31,000 more are in the pipeline.

“Through NRAS and other schemes such as the Social Housing Initiative, the Government has made a direct financial contribution to one in every 20 new homes built around the country since 2008.

“This is in stark contrast to the Liberals, who had no Housing Minister in 12 years in Government and no policies to deal with housing affordability and housing supply – other than to rip $3.1 billion out of social housing.

“The last time the Liberals had the chance to support affordable housing, they voted against building 20,000 new social housing homes as part of the stimulus plan.”

NRAS, delivered in partnership with the States and Territories, will provide 50,000 new rental homes, increasing the supply of more affordable private rental housing and reducing rental costs for low and moderate income households by encouraging private investment in innovative affordable housing.

“The NRAS Monthly Performance Report shows that over the past 12 months, approximately 2,500 new apartments, 900 townhouses and 1,300 houses were completed across the country,” Mr O’Connor said.

“These new homes will not only benefit the people living in them, they also play an important role in freeing up other rental properties so that they can be made available to other Australians on low and moderate incomes.”

The data also highlights the significant increase in participation in the Scheme over the past year, with the number of incentives increasing from 23,057 to 40,550 and the number of organisations involved in the scheme rising from  86 to 137.

Of the new incentives, approximately 9,000 are for new apartments, 4,500 are for new townhouses and 3,700 are for new houses. These developments will cater for a wide range of people – including singles, students, families and retirees.

South Australia has received approximately 2,400 of these new incentives for the construction of 700 new apartments including studio apartments, 1,000 new houses and 700 new townhouses.

Mr O’Connor today toured the Anglicare South Australia NRAS development in Northfield, where 21 apartments have been built.

“Affordable housing is about more than keeping the rent down,” Mr O’Connor said.

“This development has been designed to create a ‘village’ environment and to keep utility bills low.

“It incorporates environmentally friendly design features such as solar water heating, low maintenance native plant landscaping and storm water capture and reticulation for use in the toilet, laundry and garden.”

To view the June 2012 National Rental Affordability Scheme Performance Report visit:
http://www.fahcsia.gov.au/our-responsibilities/housing-support/programs-services/national-rental-affordability-scheme/national-rental-affordability-scheme-performance-reporting