Australian Community Housing Providers (CHPs) lauded the New South Wales Baird Government for doing their part in providing better social housing outcomes with a long lease property transfer of 18,000 homes.

“This property transfer decision will improve housing outcomes for tenants, support better delivery of housing services from the Government, and acknowledge community views that housing actually matters,” said Nicholas Proud, CEO of PowerHousing Australia, which represents 27 of the country’s largest CHPs.

“Social housing budgets have been stretched at the state level for some time, but this approach takes away some of that escalating cost that rests with taxpayers for meeting mounting administration, asset management, and maintenance costs.”

According to Proud, PowerHousing Australia’s members are now working with property transfer in other states, but are still trying to more sustainably improve housing provisions for thousands of Australians in NSW.

“The involvement of not-for-profit CHPs such as PowerHousing members, the residential development industry, government, and this policy is critical to housing provision at the margins, particularly as more Australians than ever before face challenges in buying, renting, or simply finding long-term housing,” Proud concluded.