New research out of WA is calling for more collaboration between government and the community housing sector, including the uptake of management transfer models adopted in states like NSW and Tasmania.

The report, commissioned by the state’s peak affordable housing advocacy group Shelter WA, makes a number of recommendations which it says will lead to better value for money as the government attempts to meet the increasing need for social and affordable housing.

Shelter WA CEO Michelle Mackenzie says the report focuses on how the community housing sector can work with the WA government as a delivery partner.

“The key message is that the community housing sector, by working in partnership with government, can deliver better value for money in terms of increasing the supply rather than the government providing housing through traditional public housing models,” she told Government News.

 “The government will be spending money on social housing into the future, so to get better bang for your buck why not look at different delivery methods and harness community housing.”

The current landscape

West Australia’s community housing sector is made up of 266 organisations that manage 22 per cent of the state’s social housing, with a value of almost $2.5 billion.

Most public housing is delivered and managed by the state government via projects where the state utilises its own land and contracts delivery of the housing, taking over operation once the dwellings are built.

In 2019 about 36,000 of WA’s 43,198 social dwellings were managed by the Department.

Of the 8,000 or so properties that CHP control, the vast majority of these have come from either asset or management transfers, or leases to the sector, with CHPs raising their own funds.

Time to explore innovative models

The report says recently, the WA Government has recently tried to be more innovative in its approach social and affordable housing, which provides an opportunity for the CHP sector to step up, as has been happening in other jurisdictions.

“The community housing sector has demonstrated it can deliver better value for money in increasing the supply of social and affordable housing by working in partnership with government rather than government directly providing housing,” the report says.

Management transfer

The report says management transfer models being adopted across Australia show that reducing public sector involvement in operating public housing can bring significant cost benefits to state governments.

It recommends that the transfer of existing social housing stock, particularly asset transfer, should be “part of the broader solution to deliver a more efficient housing system in WA”.

Ms Mackenzie says CHPs are able to manage assets at a lower cost per tenancy because of their charitable status, which gives them concessions to reduce the cost of delivering and maintaining housing.

They are also able to leverage commonwealth rent assistance.

Ms Mackenzie says the last tranche of management transfers occurred in WA more than ten years ago, but but successive state governments have baulked at the approach, which she describes as disappointing.

Other options

However The report also canvasses at other ways the government can partner with the community housing sector, she says.

These include:

• Removing policy blockers that are currently preventing community housing organisations to strategically manage their assets or access finance

• Ensuring head leases between providers and the dept of communities are contemporary and don’t impede the ability of  ability to borrow funding to manage assets and increase supply.

• A program of rolling grants

• Better utilisatiion of government land.

“Bringing rolling grants and the land together and allowing our sector to partner with industry  there’s a real opportunity to plan and deliver homes into the future,” Ms MacKenzie says.

The report also identifies a general lack of understanding of each other’s role between CHPs, state government agencies and councils, but says this can be addressed by more forums and better communication.

The report has been presented to housing minister John carey.