JACK PANTON GENERAL MANAGER HOUSING SUPPLY, LAUNCH HOUSING

Offering a holistic approach to affordable housing through innovative design and complementary support services, Launch Housing is redefining Australia’s social and affordable housing sector. As General Manager of Housing Supply at Launch, Jack Panton notes that the community housing sector has utilised the BTR model long before it was adopted by the private sector in Australia.

Currently overseeing two new projects in Dandenong and Bellfield, Melbourne, Jack is inspired to see affordable housing positioned as an essential part of Australia's social infrastructure, thereby hopefully attracting more government funding support and engaging private developers and institutions who are looking to enter the BTR market.

ARM: What role does social and affordable housing play in Australia’s BTR market?

Jack Panton (JP): I hear a lot of people talking about the nascent BTR sector in Australia. In reality, though, the community housing sector has been delivering and operating BTR projects now for a long time in Victoria, and across Australia. Our model is essentially a BTR model; we undertake new housing projects, arrange funding, engage consultant teams and contractors to deliver residential assets that we rent to eligible clients for the long term. The BTR sector is coming on strong now in Australia. Many private institutions and property groups are looking at participating in it. The biggest distinction between community housing BTR and private market BTR is the rent model.

The community housing sector caters to people on very low, low, and moderate incomes, while private market BTR aims to attract people who can afford to pay market rent or a premium to market.

ARM: How does the community housing rental model work under Launch, and what kind of tenant demographic does it cater for?

JP: Under the community housing rent model, we charge residents up to 30 percent of their household income, plus Commonwealth Rent Assistance. We only rent properties to people who are eligible, people in the very low, low and moderate income bands, who often require welfare support. These might be people over 55 on the aged pension, single parents on the Parenting Payment, people living with a disability or people with moderatelypaid jobs such as essential services workers.

ARM: Tell us about the projects you are working on now?

JP: Our Bellfield Social Housing project came in response to an EOI campaign run by the Banyule City Council. They had some land available, and a strategic ambition to play a greater role in social and affordable housing. After a competitive process, Launch Housing’s proposal was successful.

We entered into a 50-year leasehold arrangement and then embarked on the design and planning process. We also sought funding support via the Social Housing Growth Fund, part of the Victorian Government’s Big Housing Build.

The tenants will come primarily from the local community or people with links to City of Banyule. It’s a very multicultural area, so we’ve designed an inclusive building that will suit a diverse range of people, including those at risk of or experiencing homelessness.

Viv's Place project in Dandenong is housing plus support. This project is purpose-designed and built for disadvantaged women and children. It's based on a project in New York called the Sugar Hill project, and the purpose is to provide housing and onsite support services as a safe haven for residents.

ARM: Why would a tenant choose to rent in a Launch Housing building as opposed to another public housing offering, or even in a private rental with rent assistance?

JP: There are over 80,000 people on the public housing waitlist in Victoria, so we need more public and community housing. Both play an important role. For some people, public housing has a certain stigma when they think about the towers and large housing estates, but the Victorian government is investing over $5 billion to renew old estates and build new homes. Community housing organisations like Launch Housing have very proactive tenancy management, place management, and asset management services. We invest time in meeting and getting to know our tenants and connecting them with social and community services. www.launchhousing.org.au

ARM: Is security of tenure as much of a drawcard for residents in social housing as it is in the private BTR sector?

JP: Most definitely. A lot of community housing organisations don't even have an end date on their leases. This brings tenants a great sense of security. They don’t need to worry that their lease is going to expire in a year, or that the landlord is going to kick them out unexpectedly. Our clients should have a high degree of confidence that this is their home to stay for as long as they want and receive tenancy management support. If you own an investment property in the private housing market, the person who manages that property is often called a property manager. Property managers really represent the landlord and their economic interests. Whereas we call our equivalent role a ‘tenancy manager’. Our staff are really clientfocused, they're really interested in the welfare of the individual living there.

ARM: How does Launch Housing’s offering fit into the housing continuum more broadly?

JP: There is a range of housing typologies we offer our clients. We offer short, medium and longterm rental accommodation to eligible clients, including crisis accommodation, transitional housing, youth foyers, permanent supportive housing, social and affordable housing.

ARM: How do the design outcomes of Launch Housing’s Bellfield and Dandenong sites redefine public perceptions of social housing?

JP: Tenure blindness is an important design principle in community housing, and ARM has achieved that to a very high level in both of those projects. In many ways they're both beautiful, architecturally designed buildings, but they're done in a way that's sympathetic to their environment and the surrounding community.

They are buildings you would walk past and observe as a well-designed apartment building that you'd be happy to live in yourself. At Launch, we take the view that just because it's social housing, it doesn't need to be cheap and nasty. In our view, you can achieve a very good design and functional outcome on a budget, and that’s what ARM helped us achieve in both projects.

WE’VE SEEN THEM IN INCLUSIONARY HOUSING OR INCLUSIONARY ZONING OUTCOMES IN THE UK. IT’S VERY COMMON OVER THERE FOR DEVELOPERS TO BUILD A NEW MULTI-DWELLING HOUSING PROJECT WITH THE REQUIREMENT OF DEDICATING AROUND 40 PERCENT OF RESIDENCES TO AFFORDABLE HOUSING.

I'M NOT ADVOCATING THAT SORT OF NUMBER HERE, BUT I AM ADVOCATING THAT INCLUSIONARY SHOULD BE A REQUIREMENT IN FUTURE HOUSING PROJECTS, AND DEVELOPERS REALLY NEED TO THINK ABOUT DELIVERING SOME AFFORDABLE HOUSING AS PART OF THEIR OFFERING.

ARM: What is the status of these projects, and how do you see them impacting the wider Bellfield and Dandenong communities?

JP: Viv's Place was completed in August 2022, and the Bellfield project, later in 2023.

We’ll undertake a post-occupancy evaluation survey for both projects so we can get a sense of the resident's experience and the impact of the accommodation, facilities and support services on offer. Obviously, the results of these studies will be a while in the making, but I’m very confident that both of these projects will change the trajectory of many people's lives for the better.

The people who will benefit from these projects are coming from very challenging backgrounds in a lot of cases and may even be experiencing homelessness. Of course, you firstly have to achieve a roof over someone’s head in these situations, but then it’s equally important to consider how you wrap support services around them after that. These support services may be counselling, healthcare or community cultural and social support groups that help residents get the most from their housing experience, thereby supporting them to sustain their tenancy.

ARM: Do you think mixed-use tenure projects need to be more of a priority for developers in future?

JP: Mixed-use tenure projects definitely need to be a future proposition for Australia. We’ve seen them in inclusionary housing or inclusionary zoning outcomes in the UK. It’s very common over there for developers to build a new multidwelling housing project with the requirement of dedicating around 40 percent of residences to affordable housing.

I'm not advocating that sort of number here, but I am advocating that inclusionary should be a requirement in future housing projects, and developers really need to think about delivering some affordable housing as part of their offering. This might not be a housing solution for the most vulnerable clients who require specialised on-site support, but it may be an ideal outcome for clients like essential services workers, paramedics, and nurses, or even people working in retail or hospitality who need to be able to live near their workplace.

ARM: Does this mean there needs to be more funding mechanisms to support social and affordable housing opportunities in Australia?

JP: There is certainly scope for more government support and incentives to provide a pathway for developers to start factoring affordable housing outcomes into their projects. Further to this, if we start talking about social and affordable housing as an important element of social infrastructure, you also start to attract the attention of private investors and superannuation groups who are trying to break into the social and BTR housing market.

LAUNCH SOCIAL HOUSING BELLFIELD WILL NOT ONLY INTEGRATE SEAMLESSLY INTO THE WIDER BELLFIELD AREA, BUT IT WILL ENHANCE THE COMMUNITY ATMOSPHERE AS A SITE UNITING PEOPLE FROM ALL WALKS OF LIFE. IT IS A PLACE RESIDENTS WILL BE PROUD TO CALL HOME.