20 September 2023
HESTA welcomes the Victorian Government’s detailed statement on housing and the partnership approach to foster the conditions necessary to stimulate investment and expedite the construction of high-quality homes.
HESTA, a $76 billion industry fund whose members work predominately in health and community services, has recently committed more than $100 million to an affordable housing build-to-rent project in Kensington, Victoria, through Super Housing Partnerships.
HESTA CEO Ms Debby Blakey said: “The introduction of targeted incentives for quality housing construction, combined with the streamlined planning processes, has the potential to provide a favourable investment environment and responds to the requests of institutional investors like HESTA.”
The alignment of Government and Housing Industry goals could pave the way for broader avenues to encourage institutional investment.
“We welcome the emphasis on quality homes. This is promising from an investment perspective, as it often results in assets with enhanced longevity, reduced maintenance costs, and great outcomes for the residents,” said Ms Blakey.
In November 2022, HESTA announced it was a founding investor in specialist affordable housing manager Super Housing Partnerships whose aim is to increase affordable housing supply across Australia and build partnerships with other institutional investors. HESTA’s partnership with Super Housing Partnership’s sustainable and impactful build-to-rent housing projects aims to provide stable, long-term returns to members through meeting community demand for affordable and social housing, which will also have a tangible positive social impact.
Government policy settings are key to the supply challenge of housing in Australia.
Said Ms Blakey: “Housing is a complex area of regulation with inputs from Local, State and Federal levels of Government. There is a clear role for investors as public money cannot meet this challenge alone, but superfunds require a certain level of certainty when investing. These efforts by the Victorian Government aim to provide clarity and set an intention to collaborate with institutions, which is most welcome by HESTA.”
HESTA continues to work to identify viable investment opportunities that align with its members' best interests and contributes positively to the broader community.
Ends.
About HESTA
HESTA is one of the largest superannuation funds dedicated to Australia’s health and community services sector. An industry fund that’s run only to benefit members, HESTA now has more than one million members (around 80% of whom are women) and manages more than $76 billion in assets invested around the world.