Community Housing Peak Agencies

Two agencies support community housing providers in NSW:

• the Community Housing Industry Association NSW (CHIA NSW) and
• Churches Housing Inc.

CHIA NSW

Community Housing Industry Association (CHIA) NSW is the peak industry body for community housing in NSW.  It represents 100 members who own, manage and maintain over 50,000 homes for low income NSW families.

CHIA NSW was established in 1992 as the Federation of Housing Associations to support the development of housing associations in NSW.  CHIA is a membership-based organisation that has helped develop best practice for its members. CHIA is also an essential training provider for housing associations, including training programs for day-to-day housing management and organisational governance.

For more information, see the Community Housing Industry Association NSW website.

Churches Housing Inc

The NSW Ecumenical Council and the NSW Government established Churches Community Housing Ltd (CCHL) in 1996 to help develop partnerships between the Government and church bodies. Such partnerships were seen as an effective mechanism for increasing the range of community housing options delivered by faith based organisations across NSW.

From 2002, CCHL adopted a dual role and operated as a community housing provider, managing properties previously managed by individual church groups.  In 2010, CCHL separated into Ecclesia Housing as a community housing provider in its own right and Churches Housing Inc (CHI) which was established as a peak body.

One of CHI’s purposes is to increase the supply of affordable rental housing by brokering partnerships between the Government, churches, investors and housing providers.  CHI also provides a range of support services to church-based housing providers, including advice, consultancy and brokerage services.

For more information, see the Churches Housing Inc. website.