AFFORDABLE HOUSING INNOVATIONS UNIT

Housing Minister Jay Weatherill has launched the Affordable Housing Innovations Unit, which will facilitate affordable local housing developments.
The Unit will work liaise with the urban development and housing industries, infrastructure and planning agencies and public and private organisations.

“We are now seeing a whole generation of young Australians who could be forever locked out of the housing market, stuck paying rent with no hope of leaving a bricks-and-mortar legacy for their children,” Mr Weatherill said.

“Affordable housing is no longer an issue just restricted to lower income households.

“Members might be staggered to learn that 60 per cent of South Australians can't afford to buy a home worth more than $200,000.

“This Government has acknowledged that we need to take action if we are to combat the crisis facing housing affordability in this State.

“To address housing affordability, we have set targets in our State Strategic Plan and have established a system within the Department for Families and Communities to fulfil the objectives of the Housing Plan.

“So we have kick-started our Affordable Housing Innovation Fund with $15 million through the Housing Plan, and established the new Unit to run it.

The Unit will:

• develop investment strategies to create affordable homes
• broker arrangements between social housing agencies, planning, land owners, private industry, local government, not-for-profit organisations and communities
• provide expertise in the development of new opportunities for affordable housing (financing, planning, policy)
• promote affordability objectives within the planning system so that development processes support an appropriate supply of affordable housing

“This Government wants to put South Australia back in the forefront of housing policy nationally,” Mr Weatherill said.

“We have started this by pushing for work to be done on a National Affordable Housing Plan through Commonwealth, State and Territory Ministers" he said adding that the Government was “.... implementing the Housing Plan through innovative projects and partnerships with local governments, private developers and community groups."

The S.A. Government is already in negotiation with major property and development groups such as the Pickard Group, Delfin Partners, AV Jennings and Pacific Real Estate with "positive results. The Housing Unit will be holding nine regional and metropolitan information sessions over the next couple months to explain the program and identify agencies interested in participating.