Skip to main content

National Regulatory System for Community Housing Providers – COAG Decision Regulation Impact Statement – Select Council on Housing and Homelessness

On 28 March 2013 the Council of Australian Governments’ (COAG) Select Council on Housing and Homelessness announced that a phased introduction of the National Regulatory System (NRS) for Community Housing would commence on 1 July 2013. There will be a six month trial implementation involving a small number of community housing providers (approximately 25), with registration for providers in general to commence from 1 January 2014 in those jurisdictions which have passed legislation that mirrors the Community Housing Providers National Law. Community housing is housing assistance delivered by community organisations to people on low to moderate incomes with a housing need. Public housing (provided by governments) has traditionally provided the safety net for those unable to find affordable accommodation in the private sector.  However, the number of new allocations to public housing has been declining over the past few years and the demand for rental accommodation is forecast to increase with the lower end of the market experiencing the highest demand. The shortfall is likely to be met by community housing, which is expected to continue to grow in the future. Regulation of community housing is currently undertaken at the state and territory government level with a range of legislative and administrative controls which add regulatory complexity and cost for housing providers operating in more than one jurisdiction. The current regulatory framework is also considered to undermine confidence in the sector by lenders and property developers operating nationally.  The COAG Decision Regulation Impact Statement (RIS) notes that community housing providers and governments agree that effective regulation is required in order to manage risk, protect against organisational failure, bring down the cost of finance and help create an expanded community housing market.  The NRS is expected to yield net benefits exceeding $33.6 million over ten years. Stakeholders generally agreed that the proposed model for the NRS is expected to reduce cost and complexity for housing providers operating across state and territory boundaries, not discriminate against housing providers seeking to enter new jurisdictions, and give greater flexibility for providers to pursue growth opportunities.  Tenants are expected to benefit from greater consistency leading to better tenant outcomes driven by national standards. The Decision RIS was prepared by the COAG Select Council on Housing and Homelessness and assessed as adequate by the Office of Best Practice Regulation.