Introduction

The Community Housing Crisis is about homelessness, rough sleeping and families at risk, it’s a humanitarian crisis for those in need.

There is a solution - a rapid solution where unoccupied investment properties are converted to community housing in exchange for a 100% franked tax credit.

NEXT Scaling Community Housing focuses on the humanitarian crisis.

The Housing Crisis is made up of two key components - the property market crisis and the community housing crisis.

The Property Market Crisis is all about affordability, availability and location.

The Community Housing Crisis is about homelessness, rough sleeping and families at risk, it's a humanitarian crisis for those in need.

There is a solution - a rapid solution where unoccupied investment properties are converted to community housing in exchange for a 100% franked tax credit.

We’re not asking you to work out the changes to the tax code to make this happen, or work out how the scheme goes from concept to operations.

We’re asking for two things:

Sign the petition so we can let the Prime Minister, relevant state and federal ministers and your local member know it’s a future worth exploring.
Register your investment property at the front of the queue for invited participants into the scheme when the legislation is enacted.

Thanks for your concern and consideration for those that are homeless, sleeping rough or families at risk of homelessness.

Mark Bergin
Founder & CEO
BETTER FUTURE

Executive Summary

The Community Housing crisis was large before the wider Housing Crisis took hold, since then the numbers have grown and the original community housing crisis hasn’t been solved - actually the demand has accelerated.

Community Housing solutions are based on inventory - over the last decade there have been many projects that have worked to tackle innovation in delivering new inventory

These projects were meaningful and successful. Unfortunately new demand associated with the wider housing crisis has outstripped new inventory.

In summary, the successful efforts are not keeping up with the overall growth in demand for community housing.

Over the last 15 years, the BETTER FUTURE Awards have showcased impressive initiatives, each improving the lives of 10-100 residents.

However, to effectively address the needs of 300,000 individuals, we require a solution with a much broader impact, targeting between 50,000 and 300,000 residents.

The COVID-19 pandemic provided a unique opportunity to reassess the housing landscape. During lockdowns, the census revealed over 1,000,000 unoccupied residences, underscoring an opportunity to repurpose these properties.

NEXT Scaled Community Housing Scheme is elegant, immediate & transformative

The Scheme method is to convert unoccupied investment properties into community housing using a tax credit incentive.

Through consultation with developers and builders they are of the firm opinion that building our way out of the community housing crisis will negatively impact other construction projects though demand on materials and skilled labour.

An elegant scalable solution is a 100% franked tax credit scheme that offers investors the chance to reshape their portfolios by addressing the community housing crisis, while also facilitating the transfer of large amounts of capital into other asset classes, thereby stimulating the overall economy.

Innovation/Need

The NEXT Scaled Community Housing Scheme represents a bold approach to solving the community housing crisis by leveraging a tax credit incentive.

It begins with property owners registering or pledging their unoccupied residential investment properties.

Once the tax code is adjusted, these pledges can be activated, converting property assets into 100% franked tax credits.

This initiative powerfully repurposes a significant portion of unused residential properties, addressing the community housing need on a scale far exceeding current projects, which normally address 1-5% of the overall challenge.

Benefits

Immediate impact:
One key advantage of the NEXT Community Housing Scheme is its immediate impact. By converting unoccupied investment properties into community housing using a 100% franked tax credit incentive, we can make these properties available without the delays associated with new builds, leveraging the embedded carbon and not putting additional pressure on the construction sector for materials and labour.

Cost-Effectiveness:
By opting for tax credits over traditional construction methods, we achieve a 20% budget efficiency.

Capital mobility:
Existing negative geared capital is sitting inside portfolios, locked behind capital gains tax - the tax credit process unlocks this capital for investment in alternative asset classes.

Environmental Efficiency:
It uses existing properties, avoiding the environmental impact of new construction.

Opportunity creating:
Freeing up new builds for the market rate sales and rentals.

Consider

Why
This Scheme is designed to address the housing crisis at scale. Offering a tax credit incentive would benefit property owners while solving the problem of scaled provision of community housing.

The initiative is positioned as a budget positive program for the government, as the cost of providing tax credits is modeled to be 20% less than the cost of building new homes. Without artificially increasing supply costs for the building and construction industry.

What
The Scheme targets to convert beyond 300,000 homes, representing an estimated $150 billion. The initiative will address homelessness, offer property owners a significant financial advantage, and provide a budget-effective solution for the government.

How
The Scheme will implement a change in the tax code to offer a 100% franked tax credit for residential investment properties that are converted to the Better Future Housing Foundation. The Scheme has a pledge program where interested parties can commit to converting their properties. The pledge program acts similarly to charitable donation programs with confirmation before transaction.

Impact

Community Housing Needs:
Citizens in need of community housing face significant life impacts, including:

Health Risks: Insecure housing leads to poorer health outcomes for parents and children.
Educational Setbacks: Children in insecure housing perform worse in school.
Increased Violence: There is a higher incidence of domestic violence in insecure housing situations.
Economic Strain: Insecure housing poses an economic issue that requires an economic solution, not just a construction-based one.


Scheme Efficiency:
Primary Savings: This Scheme ensures a minimum of 20% primary budget efficiency compared to traditional construction methods.
Broader Benefits: Secondary and tertiary benefits include improved health outcomes, better school performance, reduced domestic violence, and enhanced community cohesion.

Crisis Overview:
Dual Challenges: The housing crisis is primarily about affordability for those with means and securing community housing for those in need, often overshadowed in media coverage.
Prior Shifts: Community housing was once a primary focus but has been relegated due to emerging issues in the residential property market.


Strategic Solution:
Accelerated Process: By converting unoccupied investment properties into community housing, we can speed up the resolution of the housing crisis and save 20% on the budget.

Available Stock: Existing housing units, currently held in investment portfolios, can be transferred to community housing with the right incentives, presenting a high-impact, low-yield solution to the crisis.

Call to Action

There are 4 ways to get involved depending on who you are. We’d appreciate all interested parties signing the petition so we can signal to the PM and wider government bodies that this is a future worth considering.


1. Petition:
Signing the petition is a fast and simple way to register your support for this future.

2. Property Owners:
Register in our pledge database to be at the forefront when the conversion process becomes legislation.

3. Pro Bono Professionals:
Contribute your expertise to help us develop economic models, legislative reform insights, and legal and contractual frameworks.

4. Philanthropists:
Provide seed funding to accelerate the initiative and ensure we have the resources to drive this process forward. Contribute today or send us a message to start a conversation.