Housing Infrastructure Facility Scheme

536 Ms COOK (Hurtle Vale) (22 June 2021). With regard to the five year contract signed between the South Australian Housing Authority (SAHA) and the National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation (NHFIC) as part of the $1 billion national Housing Infrastructure Facility Scheme:

(a) What proportion of the scheme is loan?

(b) What proportion of the scheme is grant?

(c) For loans, who is paying, what is the repayment schedule and what is the interest rate?

(d) Where SAHA is repaying, has any new money been provided by the Department of Treasury and Finance (DTF) to cover repayments?

(e) Where SAHA is repaying, what is the difference in interest rate on money held in the bank and money taken on loan?

(f) For the 600 homes:

i. How many will be retained as public housing?

ii. How many will be other social housing?

iii. How many existing social housing properties will disappear?

iv. How many of the 600 homes will be sold?

The Hon. V.A. CHAPMAN (Bragg—Deputy Premier, Attorney-General, Minister for Planning and Local Government): The Minister for Human Services has provided the following advice:

The $45 million infrastructure funding agreement between the National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation (NHFIC) and the South Australian government provides debt and grant funding for infrastructure works needed for new housing, including roads, water, sewerage, electrical, communication and remediation.

The infrastructure funding will support the SA Housing Authority to deliver the Neighbourhood Renewal initiative, which will deliver a mix of social housing, affordable housing and market housing in the Blair Athol, Felixstow and Woodville Gardens urban renewal projects. It will renew concentrations of aged SA Housing Authority (the authority) assets over a five-year program and increase social housing outputs. The initiative will deliver 146 social housing outcomes from 101 existing properties.

The authority will partner with builders and developers to deliver renewal projects, providing significant stimulus to the residential construction industry. The initiative will increase housing diversity, tenure diversity and improve neighbourhood amenity within renewal projects. New social housing delivered within the renewal projects will be designed to better meet the needs of current and future authority tenants.

The loan between SA Housing Authority and NHFIC contains standard terms. The agreement provides a net operating benefit to SA Housing Authority, with interest repayments and additional staffing resources offset by the receipt of grant funding. SA Housing Authority will begin loan and interest repayments when they apply to access funding from the facility. A concessional variable interest rate applies to the term of the loan.