NSW’s largest community housing provider SGCH and Lighthouse are expanding their partnership, with the specialist investment manager to provide a further $61 million in funding.
The latest facility for SGCH’s affordable key worker housing project brings Lighthouse Infrastructure’s investment up to $120 million, following the initial November 2021 deal for $59 million.
“Well located, affordable housing for key workers helps them stay connected to employment and community. They are the people who make our cities work and this creates great places for everyone,” said Scott Langford, CEO at SGCH.
The funding to SGCH Keys – a registered charity and subsidiary of SGCH Group – will be used to purchase 76 apartments in Parramatta to be rented by essential workers. With the original facility used for the acquisition of 85 affordable key worker properties in Westmead.
“This expanded partnership with Lighthouse is proof that the innovative institutional funding model for affordable housing that we built just 12 months ago is scalable, sustainable and can make a lasting change to Australia’s housing supply challenge. We have pioneered the model and now we hope to see others following the path,” added Langford.
The 76 properties are located in Aoyuan International’s Lennox development near the Parramatta River, which was recently completed by EQ Constructions.
“This presents a fantastic opportunity for the broader community for which we are proud to be involved. Hopefully, this marks a long-term relationship with SGCH and Lighthouse,” said Andrew Liaw, head of development Australia at Aoyuan International.
We are confident the key workers renting from SGCH will find The Lennox a place where they can enjoy the most modern of designs and comfort.”
Lennox sits within walking distance of Parramatta Westfield, Parramatta train station, the Parramatta tam line and numerous bus stops, while also benefitting from close access to surrounding tertiary education facilities including the Universities of New England, Western Sydney and Swinburne.
“We are delighted to have another opportunity to work with SGCH after last year’s successful partnership. These investments have enabled us to demonstrate a sustainable and scalable proposition with attractive risk-adjusted returns to institutional investors,” said Peter Johnston, managing director at Lighthouse.
“We are also very pleased to be working with private sector developers to bring well located affordable and quality housing to the rental market. Parramatta is an important area for social infrastructure, so this well-located affordable housing brings great economic benefits as it connects people with employment and education opportunities.”
SGCH will manage the tenancies at the 76 Lennox properties, with eligible key workers needing to meet a criteria of low to moderate income and working within designated sectors including emergency services, health and education.
“Partnerships with the private sector, and all levels of government are essential to provide the affordable housing people and communities need,” said Langford.
“We have shown that we can make key worker housing an attractive proposition for institutional investment and with further contributions from Government we can deepen and amplify the impact for lower income households along the entire housing continuum.”
This latest investment brings the value of Lighthouse’s portfolio of social accommodation assets up to more than $350 million and a total of $800 million of funds under management.
“This funding model has proven it is scalable, but we know it can be scaled even further for the institutional investor market with other community housing partners. This is just the beginning,” concluded Johnston.
