Overview of the SAHF
The Social and Affordable Housing Fund (SAHF) initiative is an innovative approach to the way we deliver social and affordable housing in NSW. The SAHF is made up of:
- SAHF NSW: a ring fenced entity, established in legislation, the Social and Affordable Housing NSW Fund Act 2016. The NSW Government has invested over $1 billion in SAHF NSW. This funding is invested in markets by the NSW Government’s investment arm, NSW Treasury Corporation, to generate returns that are then applied to NSW Government contractual commitments.
- A commissioning team at the Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ) tasked with procuring and managing contracts and agreements funded through SAHF NSW.
The SAHF is a key initiative under the Future Directions for Social Housing in NSW Strategy with current contracts providing access to homes to those who need them most. In order to further improve their lives, the current contracts provide residents in SAHF homes with coordinated access to supports that are tailored to their individual needs. This infographic provides an at a glance information on the SAHF.
Current contracts
DCJ, working closely with NSW Treasury has conducted two procurement processes through the SAHF awarding nine contracts to secure access to over 3,400 additional social and affordable housing dwellings:
- SAHF 1 completed in early 2017 securing five agreements to provide access to a total of 2,200 additional social and affordable dwellings; and
- SAHF 2 completed in January 2019 securing four agreements to provide access to a total of more than 1,200 additional social and affordable dwellings.
Current SAHF contracts are services agreements for access to good quality accommodation, property and tenancy management, access to support tailored to individual resident’s needs, and performance and data reporting. Services are contracted for 25 years per dwelling.
The current agreements have introduced several innovations to the delivery of social and affordable housing in NSW including:
- a contract that combines accommodation, asset and tenancy management, tailored support coordination, and performance and data reporting services aimed at empowering people in social and affordable housing to lead more satisfying and connected lives;
- the NSW Government does not take a direct interest in the assets used to deliver accommodation services, with contracted providers responsible for financing and project managing the acquisition of dwellings with payments commencing after dwellings are constructed or secured;
- flexibility in how dwellings are delivered with providers able to supply dwellings through development and construction of new dwellings, refurbishment and/or re-purposing existing dwellings, or through lease hold arrangements;
- a 25 year payment stream with abatements linked to satisfactory performance and delivery of services;
- a pathway to align contract payments to results over time.
Dwellings are delivered progressively in stages over a three to four year time-frame with all dwellings expected to be delivered by 2023. Services commence for each stage once contracted providers demonstrate to DCJ that the dwellings in the stage meet quality standards set out in the contracts (such as agreed levels of accessibility under the Liveable Housing design standard) and that services are in place to support the new tenants and their households.
Current SAHF providers
SAHF providers awarded contracts through the SAHF 1 and SAHF 2 tenders are:
- BaptistCare NSW and ACT (SAHF 1)
- Uniting (NSW.ACT) (SAHF 1 and SAHF 2)
- SGCH Sustainability Ltd (SAHF 1)
- St Vincent de Paul Housing (SAHF 1)
- Compass Housing Services Co Ltd (SAHF 1)
- Anglican Community Services (SAHF 2)
- Housing Plus (SAHF 2)
- SGCH Portfolio Ltd (SAHF 2)