Assemble strike $1.5 billion affordable housing deal with Housing Choices Australia

The build-to-rent developer Assemble will deliver 3,300 dwellings for low and moderate income households alongside the national not-for-profit provider Housing Choices Australia.

The initial tranche of the pipeline will be focused in Melbourne's inner and middle ring, with Carnish Road in Clayton earmarked as one of the key sites to be delivered under the partnership.

At least 20 per cent of the dwellings will be within the low-income housing component of each community.

Groups offered tenancy may include women experiencing domestic violence, young people living with disabilities, or key workers on low, fixed incomes that provide essential community services.

Housing Choices Australia will manage community housing across Assemble's $1.5 billion future project pipeline of build-to-rent developments. Under the partnership, Housing Choices Australia and Assemble will co-invest alongside institutional equity investors in all projects. 

Assemble managing director Kris Daff said that the timing of this partnership is critical as Australia has an affordable housing shortfall in excess of one million dwellings that must be met by 2036.

“We are proud to partner with Housing Choices Australia to deliver much needed long-term mixed-income rental housing. Our partnership demonstrates how the private and not-for-profit community housing sector can work in unison to deliver real solutions to Australia’s critical housing shortage,” said Mr Daff.

“At a time that has been socially and economically devastating for Victoria, fuelled by uncertainty in housing tenure and barriers to home ownership, our communities need support now more than ever to ensure we do not reach crisis point.”

“Build to rent is a scalable model, and when executed to its best effect, it has the potential to meet our nation’s demand for secure-tenure affordable housing. We see mixed-income communities as a blueprint for the future of Australian housing,” said Mr Daff.

Housing Choices Australia managing director Michael Lennon said although new to Australia, build to rent is widely adopted internationally

“The establishment of build to rent as an asset class reflects the growing maturity of the community housing sector in Australia," Lennon said.

“Build to rent recognises that there are very significant unmet housing needs in Australia coupled with a strong desire by institutional investors to diversify and to contribute solutions to the housing crisis. The community housing sector offers ideal partnership opportunities because of its depth of experience in managing tenancies and communities cost effectively.”

“International examples of build to rent offer a wider array of housing choices, enrich city communities, benefit local economies and most importantly, take pressure off the housing system overall,”  Lennon added.

Assemble currently has a significant project pipeline in Victoria – the largest private portfolio of mixed-income housing.