Homes Victoria does not just build homes. We build communities.
We are proud to partner with organisations like Community Housing Victoria Limited to bring homes to life and create a sense of community.
The Community Housing Victoria Community Development team at New Street, Brighton have been busy preparing for the arrival of new renters in early 2024.
Kate Daddo, Community Development Manager at Community Housing Victoria Limited, said these new homes will be the first time many renters have had secure and safe housing.
“That means that they can have a clean slate,” Kate said.
“Seeing people embrace that is the most exciting part of what we do.”
Kate has been working with local services in the Brighton area, including employment, training, legal, health, and education services, to make sure that they are available to new renters.
“We hold stakeholder forums to ensure that everyone can keep up to date and can provide feedback about how the community as a whole can support the new renters.”
Kate has been working with Elsternwick Primary School, located just across the canal from the new homes.
Nicola Smith, Elsternwick Primary School Assistant Principal – Wellbeing, said the school has a great sense of belonging and connection to the local community.
“We are a school that doesn’t close its boundaries over the weekend, and we encourage local families to come and use the grounds,” Nicola said.
“We have a lot of green spaces including sensory gardens, an orchard, and an outdoor library.”
The school also works with allied health professionals, whose services will be available for their new neighbors. This includes occupational therapists, speech pathologists, social skills groups, and psychologists.
“We are all working together to complement each other and build a cohesive community.” Kate has also created other opportunities to give back to the local community.
“The students have had the chance to visit and watch the buildings grow over the last couple of years and have a sense of belonging and connection to the space.’
Students took part in educational activities throughout the construction period.
Students chose the name to be displayed on the crane. The students chose to write a message of welcome to their new neighbours rather than give the name a crane. They also planted some of the new gardens on the site.
About the project:
Community Housing Victoria Limited is a part of the not-for-profit consortium Building Communities.
Building Communities are partnering with Homes Victoria under the Ground Lease Model to design, build and manage the new housing at New Street, Brighton for the next 30 years, before returning it to the Victorian Government.
The Ground Lease Model is a first of its kind for Victoria.
The sites will deliver social, affordable, specialist disability and market rental homes that are welcoming and secure and which meet modern design and accessibility standards. Specialist disability accommodation is a type of affordable/market rental housing.
The Ground Lease Model 1 project is on track to deliver more than 1,000 homes by early 2024 across three sites including New Street, Brighton, Victoria Street, Flemington and Bangs Street, Prahran, along with a further 285 homes in Flemington by the end of 2026.
Homes Victoria CEO Simon Newport said the Ground Lease Model continues to pave the way forward for housing excellence and innovation in Victoria.
“The Ground Lease Model is a first of its kind for Victoria and it’s led to us working with like-minded organisations to deliver more homes for more Victorians,” Mr Newport said.
“The second phase of this project, Ground Lease Model 2, will provide safe and secure housing for hundreds of renters once completed by the end of 2026.
“The latest State Government investment represents an uplift in social housing across the sites of 31 per cent – including a 46 per cent uplift at the Port Melbourne site featuring new social housing homes with bay views.”
The new housing site will have 291 new community and private rental homes, with residents moving in from early 2024.
You can read more about the project at New Street, Brighton here.
Read more Homes Victoria news, including project updates and stories from our renters here.