More Support to Deliver Affordable Housing

The Morrison Government will enable an additional $500 million in low-cost financing to support 2,500 more social and affordable houses for vulnerable Australians.

Since its establishment in 2018, the Morrison Government’s National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation (NHFIC) has supported 14,000 homes through low-cost loans to Community Housing Providers.

By increasing the NHFIC’s liability cap from $3 billion to $3.5 billion, the pipeline of housing development will be able to continue, while providing the time and confidence needed to attract private investment.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the boost to social and affordable housing would support those Australians who need a home.

“We are proud of our record of supporting Australians into home ownership, and we are also focused on getting those vulnerable Australians into social and affordable housing,” the Prime Minister said.

“Today’s announcement is expected to support 2,500 social and affordable dwellings, in addition to the 14,000 dwellings under the supported through NHFIC in just three short years.”

Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Housing, Homelessness, Social and Community Housing Michael Sukkar said the NHFIC continues to deliver housing outcomes for Australians.

“NHFIC is dedicated to improving housing outcomes across the housing spectrum. In addition to unlocking more than 6,700 social, affordable and market dwellings through the National Housing Infrastructure Facility, more than 60,000 Australians have begun their journey towards home ownership through the support of the NHFIC operated Home Guarantee Scheme,” Minister Sukkar said.

Member for Robertson Lucy Wicks said the increase in support for Community Housing Providers would particularly help women in the Central Coast region.

“This announcement will create even more opportunities for Community Housing Providers in Robertson such as Pacific Link Housing, that has received more than $11 million in low-cost financing from NHFIC. I am pleased their latest development in Woy Woy will focus especially on getting older single women into housing,” Ms Wicks said.

The additional $500 million in low-cost financing was in response to the Statutory Review of the Operation of the National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation Act 2018 (NHFIC Act).

The Review, led by imminent Australian Mr Chris Leptos AM, found that NHFIC has been a ‘singularly significant and successful intervention by the Commonwealth’. The Review made a number of recommendations aimed at building on NHFIC’s early successes and further enhancing the role that NHFIC is playing in improving housing outcomes.

The key theme in the recommendations is that NHFIC be given an explicit mandate to ‘crowd in’ other financiers to catalyse the delivery of social and affordable housing on a greater scale. The Government will give effect to these recommendations by amending NHFIC’s Investment Mandate.

In just three short years, the Morrison Government’s NHFIC’s impact on housing outcomes across the housing continuum includes:

• Supporting more than 300,000 Australians into home ownership;
• Helping almost 60,000 Australians start their home ownership journey through the Home Guarantee Schemes;
• Supporting 14,000 homes through low-cost loans to Community Housing Providers;
• Unlocking over 6,700 new social, affordable and market dwellings by financing enabling infrastructure; and
• Establishing one of the largest issuers of social bonds in the Australian domestic market, with each bond issuance up to 3 times oversubscribed.

This is in addition to the expected $9 billion to be provided in 2021/22 on housing and homelessness across the country, including around $1.6 billion provided to the states to meet their primary responsibility for housing and homelessness.

The Government’s response to the Review can be accessed on the Treasury website.