The Government has today reached another milestone in delivering on its comprehensive plan to improve housing outcomes for all Australians, announced at the 2017-18 Budget, with the passage of the National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation Bill 2018 and related Bill.
The legislation is significant because it establishes the National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation, which will operate two key activities:
- the National Housing Infrastructure Facility — a $1 billion perpetual facility that will finance critical housing-related infrastructure to speed up the supply of new housing; and
- an affordable housing bond aggregator which will provide cheaper and longer-term finance to registered community housing providers.
The Government’s broad expectations of the Corporation will be articulated in the Investment Mandate which will be issued under the legislation.
An exposure draft of the Investment Mandate was released for public consultation in February 2018. Following consultations, the Government has refined the Investment Mandate and will release it shortly.
The Corporation will be overseen by an independent, skills-based Board appointed by the Government. Last week, we announced the appointment of Mr Brendan Crotty as the inaugural Chair of the Board.
The constitution of the Board will be announced in the near future.
This is another measure announced as part of our targeted and calibrated housing affordability package outlined in the 2017-18 budget.