Delivering affordable and sustainable housing to communities across Australia and around the world.
Community Housing Limited (CHL) is an international not-for-profit company delivering affordable housing to low to moderate income people who are unable to secure long term affordable housing. CHL originated in Australia in 1993 and has since spread its operations to South Asia, South-East Asia and South America. CHL is committed to providing good quality affordable and sustainable housing in regions of the world where there is a dire need. CHL is focused on developing housing options for those experiencing housing difficulty and continuously improving its service delivery to its residents so they can ensure enjoy stable lives, raise families, engage in employment or study, and generally have enough to live on which is not always the case for many.
CHL currently has a portfolio of more than 3500* properties under rental management in Australia across five States including Victoria, New South Wales, Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania.
Internationally in Timor Leste, Chile, and India, CHL aims to assist those who are disadvantaged by market failure by securing a pathway to home ownership. CHL recognises that home ownership is one of the means by which the poor can escape from poverty.
CHL is focussed on the delivery of affordable housing by:
Creating affordable housing solutions: CHL is a prime mover in developing models of affordable housing delivery and management focussed on
the bottom end of the market by:
Focussing on efficient and sustainable design
Introducing innovative construction methodology
Encouraging introduction of finance in places where there is limited access
CHL is engaged in providing frameworks which can be replicated by other organisations involved in the delivery of affordable housing.
Providing long-term secure accommodation
In Australia, CHL has a strong track record of providing good quality affordable rental housing to those in need. CHL recognises that the development of long-term affordable rental housing is essential to ensure sufficient disposable income to meet living expenses and providing the necessary first step to get a head start in life.
Engaging with communities by creating partnerships
From its first day of operation, CHL has always sought to engage with the communities it serves by creating partnerships with local people, local agencies and governments. This has ensured the seamless and well-supported provision of housing and related services that are essential to the ongoing security of people’s tenure and capacity to thrive in their communities.
CHL is building a strong national presence across Australia and expanding its international footprint across those regions where housing poverty remains pervasive.
Australia
CHL is the only community housing organisation currently operating across the country. It has highly developed housing service pathways that take people from homelessness and crisis accommodation to long term housing security. Our clients are individuals and families with low to moderate incomes who are experiencing housing insecurity and/or experiencing financial stress in the private rental market. Rental rates are set between 50-75% of market rental level and no more than 30% of their income.
In Australia, CHL develops project models which includes engagement with communities where there is housing need, project conception, securing finance, land acquisition, housing design and construction supervision, and long term rental management services.
Timor Leste
Since the nation’s early independence CHL has been an advocate for the development of affordable housing for Timorese people. CHL has been focussed on housing advocacy, training and employment creation in a country where 90% of the locals live in inadequate shelter needs. CHL has created training and construction programs to develop housing and assists other government agencies and NGO’s in delivering their services.
CHL has played a vital role in providing on-the-job training opportunities for all skilled and unskilled workers. The CHL office in Dili employs over 100 Timorese nationals including trade-skilled graduates from training centres such as Don Bosco, Sennai and Fatumaca college.
CHL has grown to become a trusted development partner in the delivery of affordable housing. Since its establishment CHL has constructed a number of small housing projects and restored public and civic buildings in Dili and some rural centres. CHL has been highly innovative in its programs and construction methodologies which have not only led to employment creation but provided the community with sustainable business opportunity.
Chile
In Chile, CHL has been engaged in developing affordable housing projects and creating pathways to home ownership for those living in poor quality accommodation and slums. CHL has formed strong working relationships with the government local communities to assist with the delivery of affordable housing.
CHL has completed its first 44 unit residential project which was developed in close consultation with social support agencies and families who had been living in local slums. Further to this CHL has carried out the design and is refurbishing houses damaged in the 2010 earthquake in Chile’s central region.
India
CHL entered the sub-continent through partnerships with other NGOs to provide project management services for affordable housing projects to assist poor people out of slum and informal housing. CHL has an office in Ahmedabad in the state of Gujarat and has hired staff to assist in its operations in the country. The organisation is in the process of integrating its knowledge of community housing management with the design and development expertise of its Indian partners.
Over 18 years, CHL has specialised in developing accommodation options for those who are in highest housing need and those who have been disadvantaged in securing long-term rental or home ownership. Periodic surveys indicate that in many instances the impact on the lives of residents who secure a CHL home is beneficial, in many cases life-changing. Residents enjoy housing stability – many for the first time in their lives – that enables better life outcomes, continuity of education for their children, returning to employment or study, better physical and mental health, and a household budget that has more money to live on.
CHL services a wide-range of resident groups where initial contact and relationship development is made with a community organisation representing the interests of a particular group. These people can be with a disability, ageing or those having special needs. Increasingly, community housing is reaching more mainstream resident groups – young families, single mothers, and migrant families.
CHL considers ongoing contact with residents is vital. CHL gathers feedback informally through conversations with the workers, as well as through more formal feedback methods such as the yearly resident surveys and the ongoing staging of resident meetings and focus groups.
CHL also sees its role as providing opportunities for community building where appropriate, such as the staging of social events for residents in larger developments or creating a gardening competition amongst residents that includes sponsorship from local businesses. At every turn, CHL is looking for ways to engage with residents in positive ways.
CHL has established a strong track record of successfully delivering and maintaining housing services for Australian aboriginal communities with around 20% of CHL property stock being occupied by indigenous residents. The properties are in rural and remote locations around the country including the East Kimberley (WA) region, East and Central Gippsland (VIC), and the Mid North Coast (NSW). CHL’s service delivery approach is to engage with the community first, understand their needs, forge constructive relationships and deliver appropriate services. At Lake Tyres in Victoria, CHL has played an active role in providing new housing and infrastructure, employment and development programs.
East Kimberley, WA
CHL has been entrusted with the provision of tenancy and property management of 238 properties which are long term homes to a number of aboriginal remote communities in the East Kimberley region of Western Australia.
CHL was awarded the management by the WA Government based on its strong track record of delivering housing services to aboriginal communities. CHL is working to achieve the following outcomes:
Provide quality affordable housing to the East Kimberley region
Improve the level of tenancy management services to the community
Ensure the housing conditions within the communities are healthy and safe
Create a sustainable model of asset management to ensure that residents have access to a good maintenance service.
CHL works with 21 communities throughout the region, ranging in size from a single home to 74 houses at Kalumburu, in the far North East of the East Kimberley. CHL manages these properties across a vast service area of almost 120,000km². In addition to Kalumburu, housing services include Kununurra, Wyndham, and surrounding communities. Some communities, such as Kalumbaru, are only accessible by air or barge.
CHL delivers three major services across its operations; Pathways out of Homelessness; Affordable Housing Development, and Affordable Housing Management.
Pathways out of Homelessness
CHL provides information and support to access housing options to those experiencing housing crisis by offering them with short term crisis housing options, access to transitional accommodation, before helping them gain access to a secure home for the long term. CHL also provides financial assistance to access the private rental market and referral to support services in partnership with community support organisations.
Short-term crisis accommodation is a common way for families in housing stress to first contact CHL. On an average 16000 people contact CHL every year out of which over 700 end up in crisis and temporary accommodation. CHL has partnerships with more than 110 support service agencies to ensure households can stabilise their living arrangements in temporary accommodation as quickly as possible, and over time progress into long term affordable housing wherever possible. Currently this service is provided in Victoria and NSW.
Affordable Housing Development
CHL has successfully designed and built over 1200 quality dwellings that meet specific needs of the residents and is engaged in a program of delivering 700 new homes by 2015. CHL specialises in innovative design and appealing aesthetics that underpin the affordability of housing developed which fit within the character of the neighbourhood.
In Australia, CHL has developed numerous projects through single houses to medium density to multi-residential developments that require the development of all civil infrastructure including road system, street lighting, sewerage and water lines, electricity, and other essential services. CHL works with more than 500 builders and contractors across the country.
One of the keys to CHL’s efficient designs is the consultation with prospective residents and support service organisations to inform design and development of housing projects. Their valuable involvement has assisted CHL in developing a range of housing products and solutions that can be offered across a range of environments.
Over the years CHL has been recognised for its design and has won numerous Industry awards in the affordable housing category. This includes the HIA-CSR awards, Delfin Grand Masters Award, the 2010 National Disability Award for Accessible Housing.
Environmentally Sustainable Design is a major consideration in all projects developed, and CHL fully embraces the discipline of sustainability as a developer and builder. CHL aims to minimize the building's impact on the environment through reduced use of energy, water and non-renewable resources. The designs limit future need for high energy control of lighting, heating, cooling and ventilation.
CHL’s ecologically sustainable 10 unit development in Bega is a noteworthy example of ecological and socially sustainable project. The properties are energy efficient with six star energy-ratings, rainwater tanks, passive solar design, composting toilets and food-producing gardens. The local energy provider has confirmed that the BEND properties are using around 50% less energy than the average home. (Use photos from Bega)
Affordable Housing Management
CHL provides tenancy and property management services to over 3600^ households in Australia where possible from a local service centre within an hour’s drive. CHL works with the government, local communities including councils, social service organisations, to deliver and manage affordable housing. With high demand for these properties, CHL works carefully and systematically with local community services to select residents. It believes in creating stronger communities by enabling low to middle income individuals and families to live in quality homes with security of tenure.
CHL’s strategic approach to housing is focused on community well-being and improving opportunities for tenants. To this end, CHL has been able to create employment, assist residents to develop skills, and drive local economic development wherever possible.
Asset Maintenance and Property Management; CHL has asset management plans in place to manage the whole life cycle of its assets and properties. This division maintains standards and upgrades assets cost-effectively with the objective to provide best possible service to the residents. CHL also provides timely responses to the maintenance requests of residents. This business unit also provides its services to other organisations in NSW and Victoria who do not have the organisational capacity to create a dedicated service division.
CHL is a registered charity and company limited by guarantee. It operates like any other limited company, but all financial surpluses remain in the company to be reinvested in developing quality affordable housing for people in need, wherever they may be.
