helping address the housing crisis

Image credit: Dijana Risteska

Construction has started on a new build-to-rent apartment development in Melbourne’s inner west, led by specialist affordable housing fund manager Super Housing Partnerships (SHP), in which HESTA is a founding investor.

HESTA has committed more than $100 million to the apartment project located at 402 Macaulay Road, Kensington, which will deliver 362 dwellings encompassing affordable, social, market-rate, and specialist disability housing.

Increasing the supply of affordable and social housing

The development is the first in a pipeline of build-to-rent projects by SHP aimed at increasing the supply of affordable and social housing.

SHP provides institutional investors (like HESTA) with access to equity investment in new build-to-rent housing projects, focusing on social and affordable housing unique to the Australian market.

What is build-to-rent?

Build-to-rent is a model of housing development where homes are built specifically for rental purposes rather than sale. SHP’s build-to-rent projects will be designed to deliver purpose-built, long-term rental housing. Ownership is retained by the investors, and then leased out to tenants, typically on a longer-term basis.

Why do we think investment in social housing is important?

Our vision, as a long-term responsible investor, is to create strong, stable returns for our members. Our investment in this project aims to meet these investment objectives while also meeting community demand for affordable and social housing, which will have a lasting, tangible positive social impact.

Notably, all SHP projects, including the one currently under construction, pledge to achieve net-zero operational carbon emissions from the outset.

HESTA has made a long-term commitment to invest up to $240M to an affordable housing strategy managed by SHP.