Governing the City State - Chief Minister and Treasury Directorate ...

The usual model is that Commonwealth and State governments provide the initial capitalfunding to build housing. Generally, the relevant state government funds the ongoing assistedliving/ building independence programs. Other models with potential for the ACT would begreater links to the concessional rent scheme, the redevelopment of 'brown fields' sites forsupported housing – for example, redevelopment of the ABC flats in Reid - and a blend ofprivate and public sector partnerships.The Review notes that the ACT Government has recently provided additional funding to thenot-for-profit community housing provider, CHC Affordable Housing, to increase theavailability of affordable rental homes.This follows a $50 million facility provided to CHC in August 2008, in addition to thetransfer of about $40 million worth of housing stock to assist the company to deliveraffordable housing. As at 30 June 2010, CHC had delivered 101 dwellings for sale and 110for rent, including in Holt, Calwell, Crace, Forde, Franklin, Gilmore, Harrison, Higgins,Kaleen, Latham, Lyons, Melba, Pearce, Scullin, Wanniassa and Gungahlin.The $20 million extension to CHC's loan facility will be applied to increasing the number ofaffordable rental properties in the ACT for people on low to moderate incomes.The complexities of the current land release and development system have been compoundedby a number of external impacts, particularly by requirements under the EPBC Act, which havepunctured many of the Territory’s earlier assumptions about the yield potential of its greenfielddevelopment fronts. While demand for land may moderate, to fill current and potentialshortfalls in supply, the Government is engaging the community on the need for, and benefitsof, greater levels of urban consolidation. Unless the land release process can be simplified, itseems inevitable that Government policy objectives will be difficult to achieve.While the administrative steps for moving land into the pipeline are lengthy and involve anexhaustive number of studies, from a strategic management perspective the crucialrequirement is to ensure that all the studies are scheduled early in the process to allow fororderly planning of releases and to avoid the need to revisit strategic decisions. There is nodoubt that clear parameters limiting the scope for administrative duplication and repeatre-evaluations would assist to streamline the processing of estate development planning.Sustainability, Housing Affordability and Transport: 310