CHL Case Study- Housing NSW
Nation building Economic Stimulus Plan
With a tight timeline, CHL and Housing NSW worked closely to find new housing for Ron and Jenny Ling and their son...and the outcome was far beyond Ron and Jenny’s expectations.
Registered housing growth provider Community Housing Limited (CHL) continues to work in cooperation with Housing NSW to rapidly grow its housing stock in NSW, which includes constructing new homes as well as receiving properties from the state housing authority.
As an organisation that can apply for funding via the Nation Building Economic Stimulus package, CHL currently is in the process of building a portfolio of 800 properties around the state by the end of 2009, and recently tenanted its first property in the Central Coast at Gosford. The four unit property was constructed by Housing NSW, and transferred to CHL as part of the Nation Building Economic Stimulus Program. CHL will manage tenancies and maintain the property for the long term.
This particular tenancy required Housing NSW and CHL to work closely together to ensure a fast and smooth transition for a family moving from public housing to community housing.
The tenants, Ron and Jenny Ling, had been living in a North Gosford three bedroom public housing property for 15 years. When news came through that their house was going to be redeveloped as part of the Federal Government’s Nation Building Stimulus Package, they were in a panic.
“Given the tight timeline to access the funding, it was a rushed exit as we were given a fortnight’s notice, and we were faced with having to leave an area we loved and would have meant moving our son to a new school. We were really feeling under a lot of pressure,” says Mr. Ling.
The Department looked into relocating the Ling Family with CHL, the timing of which happened to coincide with the completion of a NSW Housing project in East Gosford, just seven minutes drive away.
“We were gobsmacked after living in an old fibro home for so long. We’d never heard of CHL and when we came and looked at the house, my wife fell in love with it straight away. The Department and CHL made it so easy. The transition was smooth and there were no hassles because of the way they worked together. Best of all, our son didn’t have to change schools,” says Mr. Ling.
“It’s a huge place, a double story brick home. It has two large bedrooms and much bigger living spaces. It has fantastic fencing, a landscaped yard, and it’s brand new. It’s remarkable. And it’s been set up so that we’re paying same amount of rent.”
CHL’s Managing Director Steve Bevington says the level of cooperation with Housing NSW has not only been good for tenants but will assist the orderly transition of tenants whose homes will be managed by CHL.
“CHL has gone from scratch to 800 in less than 12 months mainly due to the merger with Community Housing Mid-North Coast Ltd, and we’re adding hundreds of new properties over this financial year, the majority as part of stock transfers from Housing NSW and a portion that will be in-house projects designed and built by CHL. Overall the tenants for these properties will include people from low to moderate incomes who have been excluded from the general rental market. We would also like to target 20% of the tenants for supported housing and also provide a proportion of homes to aboriginal households and people experiencing homelessness” says Mr. Bevington.
CHL’s first construction projects are in the pipeline which the organisation estimates will be completed by August 2010.
“Our in-house design, project management, and construction divisions allows us to actively grow new, quality built dwellings in the affordable housing sector, and provide a markedly different living experience for individuals and families who could not afford this standard of living in the private rental market.”
CHL’s design, project development, and construction capability will assist the State’s construction industry, and across the nation provides subcontractor work to more than 300 businesses.
Community Housing Limited is a national and international provider of affordable housing that was founded in 1994 with a $63,000 grant. Its mission is ‘to provide affordable and sustainable housing for all’.
It is a vertically integrated operation that manages the entire housing lifecycle which includes securing funding, locating suitable land, project managing the development which includes design and construction, then managing the tenancy for the long term which includes collecting rents and maintaining the property.
CHL became an approved growth provider in NSW in 2008. By the end of 2009-10 financial year, CHL will have more than 3000 properties in its national portfolio, of which more than 1000 will be in NSW.
www.chl.org.au