Develop affordable rental housing

The NSW Government supports the development of affordable housing that is targeted to very low, low and moderate income earners. It does this in a range of ways, including:

• Providing floor space incentives for developments which contain affordable housing through the planning mechanism of the State Environmental Planning Policy (Affordable Rental Housing) 2009 (ARHSEPP).
• Facilitating other incentives for developments which contain affordable housing via mechanisms such as negotiated planning agreements.
• Offering financial and other incentives, in partnership with the Commonwealth Government, to build and rent new properties at below market rents via National Rental Affordability Scheme (NRAS).
• Making grants available to assist construction of new, self-contained boarding house supply via the Boarding House Financial Assistance Program (BHFAP – New supply).
• Making grants available for fire safety upgrades to boarding houses, via the Boarding House Financial Assistance Program (BHFAP – Fire safety).
• Encouraging partnerships between community housing providers and others, including private developers, on affordable housing projects.

Selecting a manager for affordable housing

Managing affordable housing involves the standard property and tenancy management responsibilities of managing any rental housing. It also involves some additional responsibilities around setting rent, letting properties to eligible households and meeting the requirements of the relevant affordable housing program.

You can manage most affordable housing properties yourself if you have the necessary tenancy management experience or you can contract an organisation such as a community housing provider to manage it on your behalf. Please note that affordable housing properties developed under the Affordable Rental Housing SEPP must be managed by a registered community housing provider.