Boost for affordable housing

With many Australians finding their dream of home ownership out of reach in the current economic climate, some community housing providers are finding innovative solutions to get homes on the ground.

Data released by Housing Australia last year revealed more than 377,600 households are in need of housing, including 331,000 in rental stress and 46,500 experiencing homelessness.

According to not-for-profit organisation Junction CEO Maria Palumbo, the situation on housing needs a collective effort.

“Housing supply is something that’s being felt across the whole country and everybody’s really aware of it now”, Palumbo said. “And that’s a really good thing…there is not one provider or not one area of the business community or the community itself that can fix this.”

One way Junction plans to achieve their ambitions is through modular housing, including tiny homes.

On a recent on-site visit in South Australia, NAB CEO Ross McEwan endorsed Junction’s innovative approach to new housing solutions, including a Tiny Homes campus housing project.

“Innovative construction methods such as modular housing is one important part of the answer to the housing problem in Australia”, McEwan said.

“Modular homes can put a roof over someone’s head quickly and be built in areas where traditional construction is challenging.

“Providing safe and liveable homes for a nation needs banks, government and non-profits working well together, so we’re actively contributing to partnerships that help get us there.

As part of its goal to help Australians into low-cost, safe and suitable homes by 2029, NAB has made $6 billion in finance available to get there.

McEwan also advocated for planning reform to get more housing in the right areas with shorter approvals processes across state and territories, and phasing in inclusionary zoning to include affordable housing in new developments.

“Housing is Australia’s biggest issue… because we simply don’t have enough houses for our growing population, let alone enough affordable and social housing for people who need support”, he concluded.