Access to Social Housing
Overview
To increase the supply of affordable housing, the government launched a major housing policy in December 2003. Following this, amendments to the Housing Act 1983 set the basis for a newly established Registrar of Housing Agencies to register and regulate housing associations, the growth vehicles for affordable housing.
The audit found that housing associations are on track to deliver property targets, and they are making required co-contributions to project costs largely through borrowings.
Transferring ownership of properties from the Director of Housing, within the Department of Human Services, to housing associations was a fundamental strategy to increase the supply of social housing by allowing associations to leverage their increased property portfolios. However, five of the eight associations have not used their increased portfolios to secure additional borrowings.
Housing associations are providing
housing services which meet tenant needs. However, equity of access
to this housing is not assured. The financial goals housing
associations are required to meet, provide an incentive to
house
higher-income tenants, yet current rules about access do not
protect against inequitable tenant selection.
The Registrar is not sufficiently autonomous and this impinges on its regulatory role.