business plan 2015 – 2020 - access housing€¦ · business plan 2015–2020 | 3 . no free kicks...
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BUSINESS PLAN 2015 – 2020
CONTENTS3 INTRODUCTION
4 PRINCIPLES AND BUSINESS PHILOSOPHY
5 BENEFICIARIES
6 VISION
7 PURPOSE
8 STRATEGIC PILLARS AND KEY STRATEGIES
13 PARTNERING WITH ACCESS HOUSING
14 BUSINESS FOUNDATIONS AND ENABLERS
16 CONCLUSION
Our Values Fairness Respect Integrity Sustainability Cooperation
INTRODUCTION
Access Housing Australia Ltd (Access Housing) is a leading affordable housing provider, delivering strong growth in housing options to make a difference in people’s lives.
Since 2010 Access Housing has been on
a journey to diversify its business from
solely managing social housing tenancies
to now include a successful property
development division – with significant
investor and home ownership sales programs
– and an expanded rental portfolio.
This Business Plan describes the next phase
in Access Housing’s evolution, which is based
on leveraging the company’s experience and
maturing relationships with private sector,
Not-For-Profit (NFP) and Government partners.
Whilst growth, scalability and innovation are
key themes within the Business Plan, there is
also a deliberate focus on customer service
outcomes, diversifying into new client markets
and creating greater choice and opportunity
for tenants to break welfare dependency
and move through the housing continuum.
Access Housing is an innovative and dynamic
company and enters this next period confident
it can make a major contribution to increasing
the supply of affordable housing options in
local communities whilst better aligning its
services to reflect a more responsive and
choice based framework for customers.
BUSINESS PLAN 2015–2020 | 3
No Free Kicks
Commercial Viability
Making a Difference
Opportunity and Choice
Quality Services
Customer Focus
Independence and
Sustainability
Strategic Alliances and Partnerships
Liveable Communities
Access Housing is a diverse NFP tenancy and property business that is focussed on the social and affordable rental market and entry level home ownership segments.
The strengths of the company include:
• Board and Executive leadership with
a strong governance culture;
• Sound financial performance with
a diversified revenue base;
• Financial innovation, including the
development of an investment structure to
attract large scale private equity investment
into social and affordable rental housing;
• Adaptability to changing external
environments and market conditions;
• Success in working effectively with
private, NFP and Government partners;
• Corporate and financial services
capability and expertise that is supported
by a contemporary IT platform;
• Replicable and flexible tenancy and
property management services
that are customer focussed;
• Dedicated property development division
with extensive property market experience
and a good delivery track record;
• Motivated property sales, strata
management and real estate
property management divisions;
• Strong relationships with key Government
agencies at Federal, State and Local levels.
The key principles that underpin the
business are summarised in Figure 1.
Access Housing is committed to providing quality
services with a strong customer focus. Whether
designing and developing new affordable housing or
managing tenancies and assets, Access Housing’s staff
strive to ensure a balance between cost, efficiency and
effectiveness within the company’s values framework.
Access Housing also proudly promotes its No Free
Kicks philosophy, with an emphasis on the commercial
viability of its activities and the independence and
sustainability of its businesses. The company focusses
on long term strategic alliances and partnerships
across all business areas in preference to one-off
opportunities. This is to create mutual, long term
benefits and to de-risk financial or delivery exposures.
The company is improving the opportunities, options
and choices for its core customers as it moves
towards 2020 and beyond. By doing so, Access
Housing is making a difference to individuals’ lives and
contributing more broadly to liveable communities.
PRINCIPLES AND BUSINESS PHILOSOPHY
BENEFICIARIESAccess Housing’s primary customers are:
• People on very low to moderate
incomes that are in need of secure,
affordable rental housing;
• People with specific needs that may
require short term or permanent
support to live independently including
those with a disability and/or mental
health illness, women escaping domestic
violence and vulnerable young people;
• People on moderate incomes that
wish to access affordable rental
or home ownership options;
• Property owners and investors.
Within these customer groups are a range of
demographics that Access Housing assists
including seniors, families, young adults,
couples, singles and sole parent families.
Access Housing works closely with a multitude of
community support service agencies that enable
high needs clients to sustain independent living.
Figure 1
BUSINESS PLAN 2015–2020 | 5 4 | ACCESS HOUSING AUSTRALIA
Enhancing opportunities for people in need through the provision of affordable housing solutions and quality services.
Access Housing is fundamentally about driving strong growth in social and affordable housing options.
PURPOSEWorking across the housing spectrum,
Access Housing is tangibly addressing the
shortage of secure, affordable housing for
low to moderate income earners through:
• Development of new social and
affordable rental housing;
• Development and sale of properties
to investors, including properties
used for affordable rental housing;
• Development and sale of affordable
properties to first home buyers
and other home purchasers;
• Management of social and
affordable rental housing;
• Management of privately owned
affordable rental housing.
Access Housing also engages in strategic
partnerships with a number of experienced
community service agencies and private
companies to facilitate employment,
apprenticeship and training opportunities
and other life enhancement programs
for tenants. Access Housing’s underlying
philosophy is to optimise opportunities
for customers, wherever possible, to move
through the social rental housing system into
mainstream rental and home ownership.
VISIONIt is widely recognised that the social housing
system has lost market share over the past
30 years, that Government investment
is insufficient to bridge the yawning gap
between housing need and supply and
that further up the income scale working
Australians on low wages increasingly face a
lifetime of housing affordability stress in the
private rental or home ownership markets.
Access Housing believes that these problems
require a broad range of solutions involving
Government, NFP and private sector stakeholder
input. To make a significant difference, solutions
have to be scalable, replicable, sustainable and
underpinned by large scale capital investment.
Access Housing is fundamentally about driving
strong growth in social and affordable housing
options.
BY 2020 ACCESS HOUSING
WILL BE RENOWNED FOR:
• Providing quality tenancy and property
management services for thousands of
Australians, both directly and through
its strategic alliance partners;
• Its service excellence and the difference
it makes to people’s lives through
enhanced opportunities and choices;
• The effectiveness of its strategic
alliances and partnerships with private,
NFP and Government stakeholders;
• The diversity of its affordable
housing business activities and
services, underpinned by strong and
sustainable financial foundations;
• Being one of the most financially
innovative and dynamic affordable
housing providers in Australia;
• Being a significant mid-tier property
developer that delivers quality homes
across the market spectrum;
• Its role as a leading advocate for a
sustainable social and affordable
housing system in Australia.
SUSTAINABLE GROWTH AND CAPACITY CREATING HOMES
Significantly increase social and affordable housing choices in local communities
• Ensure productive and
efficient use of capital
• Diversify revenue and capital base
• Create scalable housing solutions
• Expand Access Housing’s property portfolio
At a time when Governments are
cutting costs to reduce budget deficits,
traditional avenues of capital to increase
social and affordable housing supply
have diminished. It is precisely in this
challenging environment that Access
Housing is demonstrating its innovation
in attracting, sustaining and developing
financing streams to significantly
increase social and affordable housing
choices in local communities. Access
Housing recognises that it needs to
work with strategic partners in order
to provide scalable solutions that can
make a tangible difference to the social
and affordable housing supply markets
and reverse the sector’s 30 year decline
in market share. Furthermore, Access
Housing is continuing to expand its
property management portfolio, which
produces highly predictable recurrent
revenues. This provides a strong financial
foundation to underpin the more
variable revenue from the company’s
property development and sales
programs, which are more sensitive to
market conditions and timing issues.
Productive and efficient use of
company resources and capital are
important drivers of Access Housing’s
success and will continue to be a key
focus across all business activities.
MAKING A DIFFERENCE CREATING CHOICES
Provide customer focussed, best practice services that enhance choice and opportunity
• Sustain tenancies
• Provide efficient, effective services
• Create choices and opportunities
for our customers
• Create effective pathways into
and out of social housing
A paradigm shift is occurring in how social and
community services are funded in Australia, with
a move away from block-funding for service
providers and towards individualised funding
and income support. This enables customers to
shop around to purchase their optimum mix of
services and also introduces pricing competition
between service providers. Access Housing is
reshaping its customer focus to better align with
this more competitive, choice based framework.
Efficiency in the delivery of core tenancy and
property management services provides the
resource foundations to enable Access Housing
to invest in consumer ‘value adds’ including more
flexible policy and service delivery options. It also
allows for Access Housing to work with strategic
partners to facilitate tenant access to education,
training and employment options to increase
financial resilience and break welfare dependency.
An enduring focus for Access Housing is to
ensure that its social housing services are
underpinned by a philosophy of sustaining
tenancies. Security of tenure is one of Access
Housing’s hallmark points of difference
between ourselves and private landlords
and is supported by a range
of service agreements and
partnerships with community
service and Government agencies. These support
services can be the critical difference between
sustained tenancies and homelessness. Secure
tenancies provide an important platform from
which people in crisis can stabilise and look forward
to positive changes in their life circumstances.
Working across the housing spectrum at scale
places Access Housing in a strong position to
facilitate pathways into and out of the social
housing system. A key focus is engagement with
frontline homelessness services and Government
to break down the barriers of entry into social
housing for some of the most vulnerable people
in the community. At the other end of the housing
continuum Access Housing is increasing home
ownership opportunities for some
tenants and other modest income
earners in the broader community.
Tenant sales programs and access
to shared equity
housing options are
key components
of this strategy.
STRATEGIC PILLARS AND KEY STRATEGIES
8 | ACCESS HOUSING AUSTRALIA BUSINESS PLAN 2015–2020 | 9
SECTOR DEVELOPMENT AND INNOVATION CREATING NEW MARKETS
Invest in research and innovation to diversify client markets and contribute to the expansion of the community housing sector
• Expand client markets and services
• Contribute to community
housing sector development
• Invest in research and innovation
The roll out of the National Disability
Insurance Scheme, the long term devolution
of client services to the NFP and private
sectors and the pending impact of an ageing
population opens up potential new client
and locational markets for Access Housing.
Market research, innovation and working
with selected strategic partners will underpin
successful responses to these opportunities.
As a leading affordable housing provider Access
Housing can assist Local Government and
community stakeholders to capacity build and
develop sustainable models for the delivery and
management of social and affordable housing
in regional markets that currently lack options.
Although Access Housing may not be a direct
investor into some of these markets, it has a
commitment to assist the development of a viable
growth sector and to advocate for Government
strategy and policy changes to support this aim.
Underpinning much of the work identified in this
Business Plan is Access Housing’s commitment
to continue to push the boundaries and promote
research and innovation. In this regard Access
Housing works closely with a number of
professional research institutes and universities.
Access Housing also has a dedicated Strategic
Projects Office tasked with undertaking client,
service and product research and evaluation
and assessment of new business opportunities.
STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP CREATING AWARENESS
Provide strategic leadership on housing affordability issues
• Influence policy
• Raise public awareness
• Increase Access Housing’s profile
As a key provider of affordable housing,
Access Housing has a responsibility
to provide strategic leadership on
housing affordability issues in order
to promote public awareness and
debate and to influence Government
strategies and policies for improved
client outcomes and system change.
Access Housing’s philosophy is one of
positive engagement and collaboration
to influence change. The company
will strategically align with private
sector and NFP stakeholders
to promote solutions.
STRATEGIC PILLARS AND KEY STRATEGIES
10 | ACCESS HOUSING AUSTRALIA BUSINESS PLAN 2015–2020 | 11
PARTNERING WITH ACCESS HOUSING
Access Housing is proactively promoting
innovation in its business model to support,
enable and encourage private sector,
institutional and philanthropic investment.
Prospective project partners must
demonstrate environmental, social,
governance and ethical considerations.
Access Housing has identified socially
responsible investment opportunities that
provide acceptable commercial returns
to investors – both mainstream and
philanthropic – whilst delivering social
benefit by meeting affordable housing
needs and improving social equity.
Access Housing focusses on long term
strategic alliances and partnerships
across all business areas to create
mutual, long term benefits.
Access Housing’s market advantage and
business model enable the company
to increase the supply of affordable
housing and meet targets set by State
and Federal Government agencies.
Simultaneously, these projects assist
our partner organisations to meet their
affordable housing targets and enhance
corporate social responsibility outcomes.
This makes Access Housing an excellent,
low risk partnering option for private
builders, developers and investors.
Partnering with Access Housing will
not only benefit your organisation,
it will have a positive impact on
some of Western Australia’s most
disadvantaged community members.
BUSINESS PLAN 2015–2020 | 13
Optimising productivity and operational efficiencies within the company’s values culture underpins Access Housing’s business foundations.
BUSINESS FOUNDATIONS AND ENABLERS
Optimising productivity and operational
efficiencies within the company’s values culture
underpins Access Housing’s business foundations.
Access Housing will grow substantially during
the period of this Business Plan. To support
this growth and efficiency Access Housing
will continue to invest strongly in its:
• People (human resources recruitment
and support, leadership personnel,
staff structures and expertise);
• Business planning processes (including
strategic planning, financial forecasting,
IT systems and support), and
• Governance (including legislative
and contractual compliance, WHS
platform and risk management).
14 | ACCESS HOUSING AUSTRALIA
CONCLUSION
Access Housing is an innovative and dynamic company and one of Australia’s leading affordable
housing providers. The company is working with strategic partners to offer replicable and
scalable housing solutions involving private, NFP and Government investment and to provide a
strong platform to influence and adapt to a changing economic and political environment.
At the forefront of Access Housing’s philosophy is its commitment to quality customer service.
Access Housing is aligning its services to reflect a more responsive, choice based framework for
its clients. Access Housing’s customer focus needs to embrace consumer choice and opportunity,
including enabling people to move through the housing spectrum into home ownership.
The past 10 years has witnessed significant and unpredicted changes to the composition
of the social housing system in Australia. The proportion of social housing stock
outsourced to the NFP sector has doubled to around 18% and larger providers have
emerged to now actively engage in property development programs that are increasing
housing supply. With the continuing pressures on Commonwealth and State budgets,
the next decade will inevitably herald further transformations of the system.
16 | ACCESS HOUSING AUSTRALIA
South West Office
1st Floor, 25 Victoria Street
PO Box 1539
Bunbury WA 6230
P (08) 9722 7200
F (08) 9721 7222
Peel Office
4 Stevenson Street
PO Box 1200
Mandurah WA 6210
P (08) 9534 0400
F (08) 9583 5173
Head Office
Level 1, 39 Adelaide Street
PO Box 1334
Fremantle WA 6959
P (08) 9430 0900
F (08) 9430 5583
www.accesshousing.org.au