Tenants receive new affordable homes in time for Christmas

16 December 2016

Christmas has come early for 46 families and individuals getting ready to move into SGCH’s newly completed Affordable Housing development in Belmont Street, Sutherland.

The move could not have come at a better time for new tenant, Christine who has lived on her own for 30 years. Christine currently works in her family’s dance studio and pays more than half her income on rent.

“Living on my own, I couldn’t afford to buy my own home and rents have become so high. Over the years, I’ve made do and put my children first as they have been growing up. Moving into Belmont Street will now give me a chance to enjoy life and will make things easier for me,” said Christine.

SGCH portfolio is delivering 286 new, energy efficient, Affordable Housing properties across the metropolitan Sydney region over the next two years.

Of these, Belmont Street is the first round of properties being funded under SGCH’s $A61 million debt facility with Westpac. The finance deal is Westpac’s largest lend to date to a Community Housing Provider (CHP) in Australia.

CEO of SGCH Group, Scott Langford said: “SGCH is focused on delivering great places for everyone. For communities to function and thrive, we rely on the contributions of people from a range of different incomes, occupations and backgrounds.

“This includes key workers, people who are not in such dire need that they qualify for the social housing system, but have limited housing choices due to income and circumstance, need Affordable Housing.

“Given NSW needs 100,000 new Social and Affordable homes over the next 20 years to prevent decade long waiting lists in much of the state from blowing out even further, it is essential that we increase housing supply, located close to transport infrastructure and amenities, to cater for the diverse needs of all people in our society,” he said.

Westpac Executive Director Public Sector, Jon Ross, said: “Working in partnership with SGCH, we are delighted to see these families into secure homes in time for Christmas.”

“The lack of affordable housing in Sydney is a real social issue. We need to see more developments like this to fill the overstretched demand. We are committed to work in partnership with the NSW State Government and community housing providers to secure the funding needed to bridge this gap,” he said.

Located in the heart of the Sutherland Shire and within easy walking distance to Sutherland train station, Belmont Street tenants will have access to quality services and facilities in the centre of Sutherland that will enable them to take advantage of opportunities that can help them to participate in the private housing market.

In addition to being offered at affordable rents, this development is built to a 4-star Green Star and 6.5 NatHERS standard which will deliver significant energy savings for tenants.

About SGCH

SGCH is a leading not-for-profit community housing provider with over 30 years’ experience in developing and managing sustainable, safe and affordable homes and connecting people to opportunity.
Recognised as one of the largest Community Housing Providers in Australia, SGCH houses over 8,500 people in 4,400 homes across the Sydney Metropolitan Region.
Our pioneering partnerships with government agencies, community groups and support services allow us to increase the number of good quality homes in the places we work and connect people to training, education, employment and community engagement opportunities.

About Westpac

Westpac Banking Corporation (Westpac) was founded in 1817 and was the first bank established in Australia. Today, Westpac employs approximately 40,000 people and provides a broad range of banking and financial services, including consumer, business and institutional banking and wealth management services. Westpac's operations comprise five primary customer-facing business divisions operating under multiple brands serving around 13 million customers. Westpac has branches, affiliates and controlled entities throughout Australia, New Zealand, Asia and the Pacific region, and maintains branches and offices in some of the key financial centres around the world.

Westpac Group has retained its position as the most sustainable bank globally in the 2016 Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI) Review. This marks the ninth time Westpac has achieved the leading position amongst the global banking sector category, and the 15th year in a row where Westpac has been recognised by the DJSI Review.

About Westpac Institutional Bank
Westpac Institutional Bank (WIB) delivers a broad range of financial services to commercial, corporate, institutional and government customers with connections to Australia and New Zealand.

WIB operates through dedicated industry relationship and specialist product teams with expert knowledge in transactional banking, financial and debt capital markets, specialised capital, and alternative investment solutions. Customers are supported through branches and subsidiaries located in Australia, New Zealand, Asia, the United States and the United Kingdom.

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