Social and Affordable Housing Investment Tool Guidebook

Abstract

The critical shortage of social and affordable housing across Australia requires all stakeholders to work together to ensure both short-term solutions and long-term correction in this fundamental element of our nation’s social infrastructure and people’s lives. The purpose of the Social and Affordable Housing Investment (SAHI) Tool is to provide a rigorous, evidence-based business case to justify investment in social and social affordable housing in Australia. It provides a unique and comprehensive tool to help those in the Australian housing sector better leverage investment to address this supply issue. The tool is intended for use by government housing and development agencies, State Treasury departments, not-for-profit organisations and industry stakeholders delivering housing policy, services and physical assets. Using the tool will help inform conversations within organisations and with partners across the sector, including public and private sector investors. This will help build a stronger policy context and identify gaps in capacity and capabilities which currently inhibit delivery. The value of the SAHI Tool is in its expansive approach, with outcomes and indicators included across nine impact domains and three context domains. It addresses the complexity of defining the benefits to individuals, the community and government of providing safe and secure housing for all, to better demonstrate the benefits of investment. As such, the tool will help with identifying the current funding gap between the traditional cost-based approach and this benefits-based approach.