Your partner in affordable housing

Your Partner in Affordable Housing

As a leader in the community housing sector, Housing Trust offers expertise to help you integrate Affordable Rental Housing into your development.

Housing Trust also leases existing properties from the private rental market. This may potentially unlock tax incentives for landlords of all residential property types.

Find out more about new opportunities with
Affordable Rental Housing

Planning Incentives

Recent planning reforms at both the State and Local Government level have opened up opportunities for developers to maximise their investment by including Affordable Rental Housing in new developments. Housing Trust can help you navigate the management of Affordable Rental Housing under these schemes. As a federally accredited tier 1 community housing provider, Housing Trust guarantees a quality partnership. We've been serving the Illawarra and Shoalhaven communities for over 40 years.

Tax Incentives

If you lease properties to Housing Trust, you may be eligible for tax incentives such as a tax deduction for leasing at below market rent or an affordable housing capital gains tax discount. Any gift of money or property to Housing Trust is tax deductible. Your accountant can provide more details on these tax rulings for your situation. For example, you may be eligible to claim a total affordable housing capital gains tax discount of up to 60% (10% more than the general capital gains tax discount)

Key Workers and Eligibility

To be eligible for Affordable Rental Housing households must meet income limits set by the NSW Government based on their size and other factors like residency status and asset ownership.

The term ‘Key Worker’ is commonly used in reference to eligibility for Affordable Rental Housing. There is no official definition of a key worker however typically, it refers to workers performing essential roles for the community, particularly nurses, teachers, aged care, transport and retail workers. In general the people working in services critical to both the local community and economy.

Most of the Affordable Rental Housing planning incentives require use of the NSW Affordable Housing Ministerial Guidelines. and tenancy management by a registered tier 1 or 2 Community Housing Provider. The guidelines include income eligibility limits rather than job descriptions.

The income limits shown below represent the maximum a household can earn to remain eligible for Affordable Rental Housing in regional NSW. These limits vary based on household size:

Number of adults over 18	Number of children under 18	Upper income limit
1	0	$72,900
1	1	$94,800
1	2	$116,700
2	0	$109,400
2	1	$131,300
2	2	$153,200

Managing Affordable Rental Housing Tenancy

Housing Trust will manage the tenancy of Affordable Rental Housing properties, including leasing, maintenance, condition reports, and home inspections. We also handle additional responsibilities like assessing eligibility, setting rent, and meeting the requirements of the Affordable Rental Housing Ministerial Guidelines. All tenancies are managed in line with the Residential Tenancies Act 2010.

What is Affordable Rental Housing?

Affordable Rental Housing ensures that very low to moderate-income households pay no more than 30% of their gross income on rent. Rents are generally set at the lower of 74.9% of the current market rate or 30% of the household’s gross income. This helps residents afford other essential costs like food, clothing, transportation, medical care, and education while avoiding rental stress.

As a community housing provider, Housing Trust has access to the Community Housing Leasehold Program (CHLP). By leasing your investment property through Housing Trust, you can access unique tax benefits, guaranteed rent with no arrears and zero management fees.

This program allows Housing Trust to pay you market rent for your property, whilst we sub-lease the property to boost the social housing supply.