PowerHousing Australia CEO, Nicholas Proud has served on the Livable Housing Australia board for close to a decade and the release of these previously volunteer guidelines as mandated Standards across most states of Australia is a key achievement.
The new Standards based on the voluntary guidelines provide lifetime living specifications allowing cradle to grave living supporting greater accessibility for pram/early living, disabled, injured, retiree living.
Further detail
This ABCB Standard provides a set of technical provisions that if complied with will enable dwellings to better meet the needs of the community, including older people and people with mobility limitations. This ABCB Standard has been adapted from the ‘Silver’ level requirements of the Livable Housing Design Guidelines (LHDG), fourth edition, 2017, which were first published by Livable Housing Australia. It is important to note that this ABCB Standard is not an exact replication of the LHDG. There are instances where adjustments have been made in order to convert the LHDG — which was drafted as a voluntary guideline — into a document suitable for use as a regulatory standard. There are also instances where adjustments have been made in response to stakeholder feedback provided through one or more of the consultation processes that occurred in the development of this document.
The release of the FY2024 Scale CHP Sector Capacity Prospectus indicates the capacity of the PowerHousing Australia Members to deliver the supply of affordable housing at a time when a relief from housing unaffordability and cost of living pressures is needed most.
Housing Plus with support from Custance, have developed a design guide to support the community housing, homelessness and DFV sectors in collaborating on the provision of emergency accommodation for victims of domestic abuse. This comes at a time when a landmark investment by NSW Government in core and cluster designed emergency accommodation.
The Design Guide outlines the necessary standards, principles and features that are essential in delivering successful future housing for those affected by DFV and has been developed in collaboration with other key stakeholders with experience in providing DFV accommodation across Australia.
We are releasing our annual Australian Affordable Housing E-Scan report today, in partnership with CoreLogic. We find that renewal of Australia’s ageing housing stock offers a multitude of benefits that will supercharge the emissions reduction, boost jobs and provide new functional affordable housing for younger Australians.
Australia’s Emissions Reduction Plan taken to COP26 in Glasgow says technology is the key to balancing these global emissions and economic development objectives, but the ageing housing stock will cruel any targets until sustainable technology takes over from coal, which is decades away.
Almost 8 million pre-energy rated Australian homes are now well past their use by date, contributing up to 18 per cent of Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions and are a real liability when it comes to hitting our Paris Agreement commitments for net-zero emissions. What is startling is that the National Net Zero Emission plans forecasts that by 2050, around 7 million homes will not be subject to improved energy efficiency measures in the National Construction Code with no retrofitted improvements to improve the fabric of these homes.
The development of a standard three bedroom house has a profound impact on the economy. When we consider housing purely in terms of numbers it is quite difficult to draw a connection between its impact on the economy, its role in creating jobs and what it provides to families.
This findings consider the link between the drop from 230,000 home starts in 2018, that are forecasted to drop by 100-120,000 homes in the next year and its implications for real peoples’ jobs.
The report shows that Australian housing is holding up currently but there are worrying signs for housing in this country going forward which will impact the 43 trades and subtrades that pick up work on every new build of a standard 3 bedroom house, as showcased in the report.
Focusing on jobs in construction, manufacturing and retail in particular, we can see the importance of flattening the housing trough to ensure that we land closer to longer term averages of completing 160-165,000 homes per year. The report shows that a standard house being built drives the dual impact of supporting those struggling in the COVID-19 downturn to find housing and drives activity for the 43 construction trade and subtrade jobs and economic impacts to manufacturing and retail.
As the Report shows the real challenge is that the data shows is that there is no clear signs of a downturn in F2020 and these numbers that will indicate an issue for F2021/22 won’t be published by ABS and others for 3-6 months in October.
The COVID-19 pandemic is creating a rapidly evolving landscape within Australia. We have seen near-daily national press conferences in the last week delivering key federal advice and new restrictions, with more restrictions and rules expected to come in the near future.
To assist Members this information booklet is provided to support with the key safety and employment issues. The content of this publication is for general informational purposes only.
The Australian Affordable Housing Report: Environmental Scan 2020 was released in November 2019, in the context of a declining construction environment. Our research looks at the decline in home building approvals, the affordability of dwellings across the country and the movement of key affordability indicators such as wages growth, interest rates, unemployment and underemployment, and the growing prevalence of fulltime-employed couples with children. Key data provided by CoreLogic examines the movement of median prices across Australian capital cities across the years, maps median prices by postcode and looks at affordability measures such as the % of household income required to service a mortgage.
The International Housing Partnership (IHP) is a collaborative of more than 175 high-capacity housing not-for-profits from Australia, Canada, the UK and the US. IHP members are committed to global best practice and, like with the PowerHousing Annual Member Exchange, meet once yearly in conference to exchange information and best practice. A consistent theme of interest for members has been how to unlock efficient and favourable capital solutions to enable the delivery of more homes and better outcomes for tenants. Through PowerHousing Australia, the IHP engaged the Paxon Group to undertake a scoping study outlining the potential for the creation of a global asset class. This report identifies the challenges and opportunities in developing such an asset class, and provides a number of recommendations including advocacy/education activities and market development activities to progress the development of a global asset class.
The August 2019 release of the Scale Sector Capacity Prospectus details PowerHousing Australia Member capacity to deliver affordable housing supply amidst declines in the delivery rates of new social, affordable and market rate homes across the country.
The 2018-19 iteration of the Australian Affordable Housing Report: Environmental Scan provides an updated assessment of housing supply and demand in Australia, and considers the impact of these elements on housing affordability, particularly for low income earners—including social housing tenants, renters, first home buyers, key workers (low-income public sector workers) and seniors.
The July 2017 Affordable Housing Environmental Scan provides an environmental scan on housing supply and demand in Australia, and considers the impact of these elements on housing affordability, particularly for low income earners—including social housing tenants, renters, first home buyers, key workers (low-income public sector workers) and seniors.
The 2016 document below outlines PowerHousing Australia’s vision for a future affordable housing system, and the role of PowerHousing Australia’s members in meeting the demand for affordable housing supply.
